Tesla’s Elon Musk is ready to restart the company’s plant in Fremont, Calfornia, believing the state has clear the path.
Tesla Inc. is the latest U.S. automaker to announce it plans to restart operations Friday now California Gov. Gavin Newsome given the green light for some parts of the state to resume manufacturing. However, CEO Elon Musk may be jumping the gun.
He told employees in an email that the process to restart the company’s Fremont, California plant, which now builds four models – S, X, 3 and Y – would begin Friday. However, Alameda County officials, where the plant is located, haven’t signed off on a restart.
San Francisco Bay area counties, which includes Alameda, are leaving shelter-in-place orders in effect until the end of May, Bloomberg News reported.
(Tesla pushes back restart of California plant.)
California Governor Gavin Newsome said the state can resume manufacturing operations, except that local governments have the final say.
“We’ve been working with them, but we have not given the green light,” Alameda County Health Officer Erica Pan said of Tesla. “We have not said it is appropriate to move forward.”
Valerie Capers Workman, the automaker’s head of North American human resources, told employees in a separate email the plant will restart using just 30% of normal staff on each shift. It’s unclear whether that level of staffing will be enough to allow the company to produce cars again, Bloomberg reported.
In the meantime, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has given a restart date of May 11 for manufacturers to resume operations. Ford and Fiat Chrysler had already set dates of May 18 to restart and are planning to remain on that timeline.
(Tesla bows to pressure, shutters California, New York plants.)
Musk’s push to restart isn’t surprising, especially in light of a rant against the shelter-in-place order during the company’s earnings call. He called the mandates “fascist” and against American ideals. He claimed the state was “forcibly imprisoning people” saying it was “horrible and wrong.”
Tesla employees have been told they’ll be returning to work, but at reduced staffing levels initially.
He was also unwilling to comply with the order when it was initially passed down weeks ago, tweeting he planned to show up for work in defiance of the shelter-in-place order issued by authorities. Tesla executives also argued the Fremont plant was “essential,” but the Alameda County Sheriff’s office issued its own tweet, saying Tesla was not considered essential at this point in public-health crisis created by the spread of the coronavirus.
Only pharmacies, gas stations and grocery stores are considered essential businesses under the shelter-in-place order issued by the county government at the time, which was March 23. The EV maker also tried to restart operations in late April, then apparently just changed its mind after initially telling several employees to return to work on April 29.
(Sheriff orders Tesla to close plant as part of shelter-in-place order.)
Several employees in the company’s paint shop were instructed by email Sunday that they should not return work on the aforementioned date, and instead would likely come back on May 4 — the day after the region’s shelter-in-place order is expected to expire. However, the plant did not open on May 4 either.