Yesterday, Alameda County, citing interim public health officer, Dr. Erica Pan, said that health orders to contain a COVID-19 outbreak in the region are still in place, and that Tesla does not have a “green light,” to resume vehicle production at its main U.S. car plant in Fremont, California.
This caused a wave of indignation, both from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and from Tesla's shareholders, employees and community. This was the reason Tesla intended to file a lawsuit against Alameda County, which acted against the Governor, President, Constitutional freedoms, and just plain common sense.
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
With the experience from Giga Shanghai, Tesla, the electric cars maker is the only manufacturer in the state who has real experience in operating its plant safely under the pandemic situation, also able to reopen the factory and resumes production safely. Fremont factory already accepted safety lessons from Giga Shanghai.
The Alameda County ruling seems irrational and irresponsible. County’s interim public health officer has no idea how enterprises should resume work after COVID-19, while Tesla has successful experience with this. In addition to the invaluable experience of its factory Giga Shanghai in the pandemic, Tesla Fremont plant provides thousands of jobs. By this statement, Dr. Pan, robs thousands of people of the opportunity to work safely and gain a livelihood.
In connection with the irrational statements of Alameda County and the unrest that followed, Freimont’s Mayor Lily Mei issued an official statement. According to it, the city authorities are ready to support Tesla as soon as the factory can resume the production of cars. Mayor stressed the importance of the fact that the automaker, thanks to Giga Shanghai, already has experience in a pandemic and has its own security protocols that have proven their worth.
"As the local shelter-in-place order continues without provisions for major manufacturing activity, such as Tesla, to resume, I am growing concerned about the potential implications for our regional economy. We know many essential businesses have proven they can successfully operate using strict safety and social distancing practices. I strongly believe these same practices could be possible for other manufacturing businesses, especially those that are so critical to our employment base. The City encourages the County to engage with our local businesses to come up with acceptable guidelines for re-opening our local economy. As we have done for over a decade, the City is prepared to support Tesla as soon as they are able to resume automobile manufacturing operations and are committed to a thoughtful, balanced approach to this effort that remains safe for our Fremont community."
This is the statement I issued today regarding Tesla. https://t.co/IVFmDnfclY
— Lily Mei (@LilyMei4Fremont) May 9, 2020
Alameda County also issued a statement
Featured image: REUTERS/Stephen Lam
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
