We’re reopening the Fremont Tesla factory, arrest me if you want

Well, this escalated quickly. 

According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the company is reopening its manufacturing facility in Fremont, California “against Alameda County rules.”

“I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me,” he tweeted on Monday.

Tesla’s Fremont factory has been shut down in March per Alameda County’s order to all residents to shelter at their place of residence. There’s an exception for “essential” businesses, and Tesla tried to argue that it was one — to no avail. Now, it seems the company is tired of waiting. 

In another tweet on Monday, Musk argued that the state of California approved Tesla’s reopening of the factory, but that an “unelected county official illegally overrode” that decision. He also said that “all other auto companies” in the U.S. have been approved to resume operations, with Tesla being “singled out.”

That argument has been explained in more detail in a recent blog post on Tesla’s website. “From the State’s very first shelter-in-place order, national critical infrastructure, including vehicle manufacturing like Tesla’s Fremont factory, was considered vital and given permission to continue operating. The Governor repeated this direction this week when he made clear manufacturing should resume,” the post claims. 

“Alameda county, where our factory resides, and Santa Clara County next door, have stated in their return to work order FAQs that the manufacturing of distributed energy resources (which is defined in state law to include electric vehicles, solar and battery storage) is permitted to resume.”

The Alameda County officials disagree. In a notice posted Monday, the County said that Tesla can “only maintain Minimum Basic Operations until we have an approved plan that can be implemented in accordance with the local public health order.” 

From the statement it appears that the county has no beef with Tesla reopening its Fremont factory, but wants to make sure it’s done in alignment with local and state requirements. In other words, the reopening seems to be just a matter of time, but Musk claims county officials are slowing it down on purpose. 

Alameda County, together with other Bay Area counties, has been praised for fast decisions that likely slowed the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in the area. According to , as of May 12 there have been 2,064 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 71 coronavirus-caused deaths in Alameda County. 

The decision to reopen the factory against county orders is a continuation of a months-long back-and-forth with the county officials. Last week, Musk threatened to move the Tesla headquarters to Texas or Nevada, depending on how its Fremont facility is treated. 

Tesla also filed a lawsuit against Alameda County, claiming — Musk’s words — that the “unelected & ignorant ‘Interim Health Officer’ of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!”

Your move, Alameda County.