Maverick Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared to be living up to his recent defiant words that flouted the coronavirus lockdown rules currently enforced in the United States. Reports said the automaker could be gearing up to resume manufacturing activities in Fremont, California, a move that will run in counter with the COVID-19 restrictions implemented by the state government.
The company is said to be making preparations for the Fremont facility to commence producing Tesla vehicles, albeit in a limited capacity. The information was supplied by an anonymous source, who supposedly is "familiar with factory operations," at Tesla's manufacturing site in California.
Citing the report first published by the San Francisco Chronicle, CNET said the Tesla Fremont factory could restart operations soon. The same facility was forced to shut down when the federal and state governments in the U.S. issued stay-at-home orders designed to slow down the spread of the deadly virus.
Initially, however, Tesla ignored the lockdown measures but a week after the company stopped production with California authorities insisting that car manufacturing is considered nonessential and covered by the total shutdown order.
Still, the Fremont factory kept a skeleton team that Tesla claimed would be essential for the maintenance of the facility and the machinery. Yet according to the same report, employees that were tasked to do maintenance work grew in numbers in recent weeks, leading to speculations that the factory could restart operations soon.
There were indications that workers reported to the factory this week in anticipation of the possibility that Tesla will order the resumption of production in the few days to come.
The Chronicle report claimed vehicle production could start as early as next week. It seemed too that Tesla is confident of the action it is taking as safety protocols and equipment will be utilized to ensure the prevention of COVID-19 infection.
It came as no surprise that the reported move by Tesla will generate fresh controversy as essentially, the lockdown ordered by the California government is still in place. Police authorities in the Fremont area have reiterated that while basic productions are allowed during the lockdown, car manufacturing is not covered by the exceptions, Business Insider reported.
"Operating the assembly line was determined early on to be a violation," the reported quoted a representative of the Fremont Police Department as saying.
The latest development is reflective of the stance taken by Musk on the subject of COVID-19 restrictions, which he labeled as "forcible imprisoning of people in their homes."
"It's [the coronavirus lockdown] breaking people's freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country," the Tesla chief was reported as saying during a recent earnings call.
