Tesla receives official clearance to resume operations in California. After challenging the authorities of Alameda County with a volley of tweets, Elon Musk's company reopens the Fremont factory.
The most recent social media updates dated back to April, when, via a video uploaded to YouTube, Tesla engineers demonstrated the progress made in developing ventilators to support — as a great many companies in the automotive sector have done in recent months — the national health system, by donating equipment and materials useful in the fight against coronavirus. On Sunday 10 May, the Palo Alto company announced on social media its return to the factory and the resumption of production of its electric cars. The decision caused considerable controversy, given that the reopening effectively took place in defiance of what had been established by Alameda County, which had — illegally, according to Tesla — ignored the authorisation to resume operations granted by the state of California, an authorisation also extended to all other companies in the sector across the United States.
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Taking a stand against the decisions of the American county where the Fremont plant is located was Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, who immediately declared on social media that he was on the front line alongside his workers and, like a modern-day William Wallace defending the electric movement, was ready to be arrested in defence of the legitimacy of his actions.
After a rather turbulent week-long standoff between company representatives and the authorities, Wednesday brought the official go-ahead from the county for the resumption of production at the California site, on the condition that Tesla complies with the Covid-19 prevention and control plan required for the regular restart of operations.
As the unofficial spokesperson for that section of the American public that has repeatedly expressed its impatience with lockdown, Musk had once again held nothing back — in recent months he had, perhaps misguidedly, downplayed the global epidemiological emergency and the panic triggered by the virus's arrival on American shores — and found support not only from the community of dissenters but also from President Trump, who had likewise taken to social media to put his weight behind the Californian company, calling for a reopening "Fast & Safely!".
Musk had announced that he had filed a lawsuit against Alameda County for intervening in an unconstitutional manner, as well as against common sense, and had also threatened to move the entire operation to Texas or Nevada, raising the prospect of leaving California without the last remaining automotive company on its territory, one that employs more than 10,000 people. A few days later, in a press release, Tesla explained that the plan for resuming production — the result of months of careful preparation — had been modelled on the one already developed in China at the Shanghai Gigafactory, which includes, among other things, comprehensive training for all staff delivered via an online video. The guidelines for ensuring a safe working environment are set out in the Tesla Return to Work playbook.
