--- title: "Shrugging Off Pandemic, Tesla Prepares to Restart CA Factory" description: "According to a new report, Tesla is planning to potentially violate shelter-in-place orders by restarting \"some car production\" at its California factory." date: "2020-05-07" modified: "2020-05-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/shrugging-pandemic-tesla-restart-factory" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Shrugging Off Pandemic, Tesla Prepares to Restart CA Factory ![According to a new report, Tesla is planning to potentially violate shelter-in-place orders by restarting "some car production" at its California factory.]() *\Image: Tesla\* ## Restarting Production According [to the *San Francisco Chronicle*](), Elon Musk-led electric car company Tesla is planning to restart "some" car production at its factory in Fremont, California. It's still unclear when Tesla is planning to do so, or if such an action would qualify as a violation of state shelter-in-place orders. ## Tweetstorm A handful of Tesla employees have returned to the facility to prepare for the relaunch, with safety measures in place to protect their health, an anonymous source familiar with the matter told the *Chronicle*. "We’re all sort of in a little bit of a gray area," Geneva Boscques, a spokeswoman for the Fremont Police Department, told the *Chronicle*, referring to newly announced measures that certain businesses would soon be able to reopen — but only under circumstances with safety measures in place and with local approval. ## Essential Workers Two visits to the factory by Fremont Police Department officers in April did not result in any violations being cited. A small number of "essential' workers have been working at the plant since mid-March. Initial orders to have Tesla employees return to work issued in April were retracted by the company a week later, according to the *Chronicle*. **READ MORE:** [Tesla said to be gearing up to restart Fremont car manufacturing, in possible shelter-in-place violation]() \[*San Francisco Chronicle*\] **More on the saga:** [ELON MUSK GETS $700 MILLION PAYDAY AFTER TWITTER MELTDOWN]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()