Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the company’s headquarter will be moved out of California, after he was ordered to keep its only US vehicle plant closed.
“Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately,” the CEO tweeted.
The company was filing a lawsuit against Alameda County, he added.
The health department of USA had refused to let the Tesla factory reopen on Friday, citing lockdown measures.
According to figures from Johns Hopkins University, 2,715 people in California have died due to Coronavirus.
Since 23 March, every but “basic operations” are suspended at Fremont plant of Tesla, near San Francisco, due to “shelter in place” orders enacted in Alameda County. The factory employs quite 10,000 workers, and makes about 415,000 vehicles once a year.
California’s government has eased some restrictions round the state in the week, allowing businesses to resume operations. But several Bay Area counties have issued their own criteria that businesses may reopen, which take precedence.
In Alameda, every but essential businesses must remain closed until the last of May.
Mr Musk suggested the factory’s future could now be in doubt, tweeting: “If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependent on how Tesla is treated in the future.”
In a statement released before Mr Musk’s tweets, Alameda County said: “We welcome Tesla’s proactive work on a reopening plan, so that once they fit the criteria to reopen, they can do so in a way that protects their employees and the community at large.”
48 year old Elon Musk welcomed a baby with Canadian singer Grimes earlier this week, wiped off Tesla’s value of $14bn (£11bn) on 1 May after tweeting that its share price was too high.
He has donated over 1,200 ventilators to hospitals within the US to help with treating coronavirus patients.
Mr. Musk has also poked fun at the mass purchasing of toilet paper when the pandemic started. But he has also sparked controversy for promoting an unproven treatment for the coronavirus, and for asserting, falsely, that children are “essentially immune”.
He has continually voiced his opposition to “fascist” lockdown measures, tweeting “FREE AMERICA NOW” last month.
Tesla has suspended operations at its plant within the Shanghai in China, as stated by Bloomberg. It had previously closed the factory as a brief measure when the virus was at its peak in China.
Tesla reported a gain in the from January to March of 2020, and its stock has risen to just about $820 (£669; €756). But analysts expect the outbreak will adversely affect its earnings in this year.
