May 14, 2020
Elon Musk Wins Over Tesla Factory Reopening and Twitter Battle.
Elon Musk threatened to move Tesla out of California to Texas or Nevada over the closing of its only Tesla factory in the United States.
Lorena: “F**k Elon Musk”
Following Musk’s tweets, San Diego assembly woman Lorena Gonzalez, a California Democrat tweeted “F**k Elon Musk” in a tweet on Saturday (9/5/2020).
Elon Defies Order
Tensions further risen as Elon defies the lockdown and reopened California plant on Monday against local order, claiming that he is ready for an arrest. Moreover, it sued its local county for the lockdown.
Tesla’s Approval
Today, on 13th May 2020 (Tuesday), Tesla has been given a tentative approval to restart their production line at its plant in Fremont, California.
From a statement by the county,
“We will be working with the Fremont Police Department to verify Tesla is adhering to physical distancing and that agreed-upon health and safety measures are in place for the safety of their workers as they prepare for full production,”.
Tesla made a 38-page “return to work” guideline during the weekend outlining the measures it would take to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in its factories. Elon Musk further emphasised the effort on Twitter on Wednesday.
Politics
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, applauded both parties for resolving the issue “in a fairly short order”, though he slightly hinted that the work had been sloppy. “We try to work with people.” Mr Newsom said. “It’s not ready, fire, aim;”, supposedly referring to the tensions between both parties.
Elon Musk’s grandstanding has thrown him into political spotlight at a time of crisis when America has been struggling with coping the Covid-19 situation. US president, Donald Trump, also supported of Elon Musk’s initiative to open his Tesla plant. Trump said in a tweet, “California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW. It can be done Fast & Safely!”
Elon Musk’s beef with California may finally be over.
Elon Musk’s beef with California may finally be over. But will it? It depends on the Covid-19 situation and whether there will be another round of lockdown. It is understanding that the Tesla depends heavily on the California production line as it is the only Tesla plant in the United States and Tesla has very serious production goals to achieve as a starting, relatively new company. However, the safety of the people and workers should be the priority.
Tesla / Elon Musk never spends a dime on market ever since the start of the business but it has received tremendous response and hype. Could this be part of Elon Musk’s latest marketing ploy?
