Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk has outright defied local restriction orders with the reopening of his Tesla manufacturing plant in Fremont on Monday. The billionaire businessman even went as far as saying that he was ready to be arrested and that the decision to reopen Tesla's facility was his and his alone.
Musk's defiance of orders given by California and Alameda County authorities comes just days after the entrepreneur and SpaceX founder filed a lawsuit claiming that forcing the factory to remain closed is against the law. Tesla's Fremont plant is the company's only vehicle assembly facility in the US.
On Monday, hundreds of shift works streamed in and out of Tesla's Fremont facility. Tesla reportedly implemented strict social distancing measures and provided employees with personal protection gear, similar to the ones it had given to workers in its Gigafactory in Shanghai, China.
Sources inside the company revealed that the facility went online with a limited staff over the weekend, rolling out around 200 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles. Musk confirmed on Monday that the facility had indeed been restarted and acknowledged that the move was against Alameda County rules.
Musk noted on his post on social media that the federal government and the state of California had already approved the reopening of essential manufacturing facilities but "unelected country officials" illegally overrode those orders. He added that other US automakers had already been allowed to resume operations and only Tesla has been singled out.
California Governor Gavin Newsom mentioned on Monday that he was not informed that Tesla would be resuming operations. In response to his comment on Musk's decision, Newson stated that he had expected that the company would be given the approval to restart next week.
Musk had claimed in an internal email to employees that the reopening of the plant was permitted under the governor's orders. However, a local order was given to six counties in the San Francisco area back in March, which extended the restrictions to May 31. Newsom had previously stated that local orders take precedence over state orders.
The extension of the shutdown of manufacturing facilities had led to Tesla filing a lawsuit against Alameda County, with Musk accusing its "interim health officer" of violating orders given by the governor and the president. Musk also added that the continued restrictions were against Constitutional freedoms. On social media, Musk threatened to move out of California and establish Tesla headquarters elsewhere. He added that the future of the company in California will be greatly dependent on how it is treated in the coming months.
