Tesla parking lot nearly full, indicating factory is running

The parking lot was nearly full at Tesla's California electric car factory Monday, an indication that the company could be resuming production in defiance of an order from county health authorities.

The parking lot at the massive plant in Fremont, which employs 10,000 workers, appeared to have a similar number of vehicles as it does when the factory is fully operating.

A normal complement of workers would violate orders from the Alameda County Health Department, which has deemed Tesla's Fremont factory a nonessential business that can't open under restrictions to help stop the spread of novel coronavirus.

A statement posted by Tesla on its website Saturday night said the company has started the process of resuming operations but didn't say when manufacturing would actually begin.

A message was left Monday seeking comment from the company.

The full parking lot came two days after Tesla sued Alameda County's health department seeking to overturn the order, and CEO Elon Musk threatened to move Tesla's manufacturing and headquarters operations out of the state.

Our employees are excited to get back to work, and we're doing so with their health and safety in mind, Tesla's Saturday statement said.

Tesla contends in the lawsuit that Alameda County can't be more restrictive than orders from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The lawsuit says the governor's coronavirus restrictions refer to federal guidelines classifying vehicles and commercial ships manufacturing as essential businesses that are allowed to continue operating.

Frankly, this is the final straw, Musk wrote in a now-deleted tweet. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. He wrote that whether the company keeps any manufacturing in Fremont depends on how Tesla is treated in the future.

Newsom has said repeatedly that counties can impose restrictions that are more stringent than state orders. Alameda County was among six San Francisco Bay Area counties that were the first in the nation to impose stay-at-home orders in mid-March.

Early in the coronavirus crisis, Newsom praised Musk as the perfect example of the private sector assisting the state in the pandemic. His comments came after Musk pledged to provide more than 1,000 ventilators to California hospitals, a fact Newsom repeated often and called a heroic effort."