Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Tesla eyes Fremont factory restart despite stay-at-home order

Trevor Mogg
By

Tesla has asked some of its workers to return to its production facility in Fremont, California, despite a stay-at-home order remaining in place.

Last month, after a brief tussle with local officials, Tesla agreed to close the site in response to a stay-at-home order issued due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Related Videos

But internal messages seen by Bloomberg show that despite the order running until Sunday, May 3, the electric-car company is asking some of its workers — responsible for paint and stamping operations — to return to the plant on Wednesday, April 29.

Responsible for the production of Tesla’s current range of vehicles and employing some 10,000 people, the Fremont facility hit the headlines in mid-March after the company apparently defied a stay-at-home instruction that ordered nonessential businesses to close, and residents to stay indoors, until early May, as part of measures to slow the spread of the virus.

A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said at the time that Tesla would violate the California health and safety code if it continued to operate as usual. Following discussions with local, state, and federal officials, Tesla relented and agreed to temporarily shutter the facility on March 24.

With Credit Suisse analysts estimating the factory’s closure is causing the company around $300 million of cash burn per week, it’s little wonder Tesla wants to put the facility back into action. Whether its planned early opening causes another run-in with the authorities remains to be seen. But an even bigger headache could be coming Tesla’s way if the stay-at-home order is extended beyond May 3.

The temporary closure of California businesses came as a big disappointment for Tesla as it happened just days after it began the very first deliveries of its brand new Model Y electric crossover that it produces at its Fremont facility.

Many major automakers have suspended operations at numerous car factories as part of measures to protect workers from the virus and to reduce the number of infections in the wider population. Bloomberg notes in its report that while many car manufacturers have outlined plans to restart facilities in early May, the United Auto Workers union of North America has warned that it may be too early.

“We want to make sure the scientific data is supportive and every possible health protocols and enhanced protections are in place before UAW members walk into the workplace,” the union said.

As the virus took hold in China earlier in the year, Tesla was also forced to suspend operations at its recently opened production plant in Shanghai, its only such facility in the country. It has since reopened.

We’ve reached out to Tesla for comment on its apparent plan to reopen part of its California factory, and we will update this piece when we hear back.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Airthings View Plus monitors air for particulate matter invisible to the eye
airthings view plus worlds most advanced air monitor lifestyle kitchen pm co2 web

What's the air quality like in your home? The majority of people have spent more time indoors over the past year than ever before. Without an air purifier or opened windows, the air in a home can quickly grow stale. Airthings is already one of the leading air quality monitors on the market and can help keep track of what kind of air you're breathing in.

Now, the company has added a particulate matter monitor to the system, a feature that has long been requested by users. The Airthings View Plus will watch for particulate matter as small as PM2.5, or roughly the size of a dust mite, as well as PM1, the size of most bacteria.

Read more
The wildest 5G conspiracy theories explained — and debunked
cell radio tower

What is 5G? It will take some time before it truly impacts our lives, but the next-gen mobile network is here whether people are ready for it or not. Carriers have deployed their nationwide 5G network coverage, and are in the middle of expanding the rollout. But, as with many major breakthroughs, the new cellular technology has spawned a set of conspiracy theories, including everything ranging from the idea that 5G can cause cancer to the claim that it causes the coronavirus.

Do these theories about 5G dangers have any validity behind them? And where did they come from in the first place? We did some digging to debunk even the wildest conspiracy theory surrounding 5G.
The physics of 5G
Before diving into 5G conspiracy theories, it's important to note that 5G refers to a number of different 5G technologies. For starters, 5G, which is technically just the 5th-generation of wireless technology, can span a range of frequencies. There are low-band radio frequencies, which offer a relatively slow internet connection but can travel longer distances. At the other end of the spectrum, there are high-band frequencies, or millimeter-wave frequencies. Connections on mmWave are much faster, but they struggle to get through obstacles and can't travel long distances. Midband frequencies, as you would expect, offer medium-speed connections at medium distances.
Did 5G cause the coronavirus pandemic?
One theory that has been relatively prominent over the past year or so is that 5G could be the cause of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the theory, both the rollout of 5G and the first cases of the coronavirus happened around the same time in late 2019.

Read more
The best way to dispose of used face masks? Turn them into roads
Recycled face masks

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a real -- and justified -- concern that there weren’t enough face masks in circulation. Companies quickly sprang into action, manufacturing millions of these now instantly recognizable bits of protective gear. Jump forward to the first months of 2021, however, and people now have another concern: That we might have too many face masks, and that this could pose a potential environmental problem.

“The current COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for creating too much rubbish,” Jie Li, a professor in the school of engineering at Australia’s RMIT University, told Digital Trends. “The single-use disposable face masks can be seen in parks, streets, beaches, and almost everywhere. Since the masks are mainly made of nonbiodegradable plastics, these single-use masks will take as long as 450 years to break down in the environment. Urgent action is needed to address the emerging issues related to face mask generation.”

Read more