Despite a lawsuit being filed to threaten to move the company's headquarters to another US state and the backing of US President Donald Trump, it remains the same: Tesla's main electric car plant in California must not open immediately - the authority remains tough.
Fremont (dpa) - Tesla boss Elon Musk bites the local authorities with his demands for an immediate opening of the main electric car plant in California despite the corona crisis on granite.
The health department in the Alameda County district does not want to start production until next week. This week, preparatory measures are allowed, the authority said. In collaboration with the police, it will ensure that Tesla employees maintain a safe distance and other regulations.
Alameda County had extended exit restrictions in the Corona crisis until the end of May, but the state of California as a whole allowed cautious opening of operations with precautionary measures. Tesla filed a lawsuit against the county's regulations over the weekend, and Musk announced that he would open the factory despite local regulations - at the risk of being arrested for it. Musk was backed by US President Donald Trump, who tweeted that the plant should "now" be allowed to open.
The factory in Fremont is of paramount importance to Tesla: by far the most vehicles are built there, while production in the new second plant in China is just beginning. The manufacturer only recently managed to hit the black in a stable fashion after a long series of high losses and wanted to exceed 500,000 deliveries this year.
Musk had downplayed the risk of coronavirus right from the start, calling the Alameda County restrictions on going out last week as "fascist."
Notification from the health department