Tesla CEO Elon Musk has had enough of the restrictions on business in California, and he’s not going to take it anymore.
See, on Friday, Erica Pan, health officer for the Alameda County, said that despite the state of California relaxing some of the extremely strict coronavirus restrictions in the state, they still would not allow Tesla to reopen their Fremont factory. She claimed that authority in an online town hall, saying that “If there are local orders, whichever is stricter prevails.”
Addressing Musk and Tesla in particular, she added “We have not given the green light. We have been working with them looking at some of their safety plans. But no, we have not said that it is appropriate to move forward.”
On Saturday, the Third Row Tesla podcast tweeted “So apparently Alameda county doesn’t think Tesla should reopen until June 1”
Later in the morning, Musk responded to the thread, stating that his company is going to sue the county. “The unelected & ignorant “Interim Health Officer” of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!” he wrote.
Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately. The unelected & ignorant “Interim Health Officer” of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020
Ten minutes later he added that this was the last straw.
Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020
A lot of people feel like the restrictions in California have been their last straw. Looks like my home state is about to get a whole lot of new residents. And business.