Elon Musk Ramps Up Tesla’s Pace, Says California Production Will Restart Amid Pandemic

Follow us on Google News:
 Elon Musk Ramps Up Tesla’s Pace, Says California Production Will Restart Amid Pandemic
                                 

X Æ A-12. Did this leave you puzzled? Well, netizens have been baffled by the choice that industrial designer, technology entrepreneur, philanthropist and Tesla mastermind co-founder & CEO Elon Musk and his partner Claire Grimes Boucher chose for their first baby.

While Musk has been stealing headlines for his newly born son’s unique name, another update has fetched him interest- the decision to reopen Tesla’s Fremont car-making plant beyond minimal operations, while California is still adhering to regional shelter-in-place order at least till 31 May 2020.

Tesla to Restart Production in California

With the vision to create an entire sustainable energy ecosystem, all Tesla vehicles are produced at its factory in Fremont, California, where the huge bulk of the vehicle’s components are also produced. The factory is deemed to be one of the safest factories in the world. Tesla thrives on taking a proactive approach towards the safe and secure environment in this factory in particular, requiring production personnel to take part in a multi-day training program prior to entering the factory. On-the-job training is a regular activity thereon and so is tracking performance daily to facilitate quick improvements.

However, the current unprecedented presence of the novel coronavirus has questioned every safety measure that the human race has inculcated in any form.

Despite lockdown orders in place and the risk of lifting it being constantly warned by top health officials, Tesla intimated that it is “getting back to work”.

The Company intimated that it has started the process of resuming operations and employees are excited to get back to work. The Tesla team also emphasised on the fact that this decision has been made keeping employees health and safety in mind, and the restart plan is the result of months of careful planning and preparation, modelled after the comprehensive return to work plan established at Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory, which has been reportedly seen smooth and healthy operations for the last three months.

Measures at Fremont Factory

The Company is taking time to get personnel trained well, prior to commencing work, and an online video training is a mandate, with a thorough return-to-work planned for all locations. A cross-functional response squad, along with an internal physician, has been working on an everyday basis to create health and safety rule location wise while taking job-specific risk assessments into consideration. Risk assessments at each site were conducted in March 2020 to understand measures that are needed to meet safety standards.

With social distancing deemed to be the top measure to disallow the contagious coronavirus from spreading, Tesla notified that partitions or barriers have been set up to separate work areas and minimise employee interactions.

Moreover, parts have been positioned closer to where that task is completed on the line. Supplementary personal protective gear, along with cleaning and disinfecting conventions is also looked into. As emphasized by the team, review processes have been adhered to ensure a safe working environment.

What Propelled Tesla’s Production Decision Amid Pandemic?

A question that has been triggering the world has an answer from the Company. According to the Tesla team, the Company is not an outlier and is not going against its principles. The State had voiced the importance and given a green signal to national critical infrastructure which includes vehicle manufacturing, an activity that happens in Tesla’s Fremont factory, with the Governor stating that manufacturing should resume.

Moreover, Solano, Napa, and San Joaquin Counties, neighbours to the factory location have already restarted their economies. More closely, Alameda county where the factory is, and Santa Clara County right next to it, have stated that manufacturing of distributed energy resources is permitted to resume. It should be noted here that Tesla makes electric vehicles and the state law includes this in the distributed energy resources list.

But There Are Problems!

Alameda County has been insisting that Tesla should not resume operations, contrary to the Governor’s recent guidance and support from the City of Fremont. Moreover, the County Public Health Officer, who has the power to make the decision on behalf of Alameda County Health Care Services Agency has not yet reverted to Tesla, after the Company shared details of its restart plan.

Despite this barrier, Tesla notified that it will continue to put people back to work in a safe and responsible manner and take legal action against the County. A lawsuit was already filed on 9 May 2020, requesting the court to invalidate the County Orders of preventing the Company from resuming operations.

COVID 19 Situation in US

The pandemic, which has its epicenter in Wuhan City of China has spread across every continent forcing governments to strictly order lockdowns, stay-at-homes orders and what one may call war-time measures. Consequently, with workers abiding by these laws, production has taken perhaps the harshest hit in the business world.

The USA has crossed 1.36 million confirmed cases of COVID 19 & death toll has surpassed 82.3k till now, as per a JHU CSSE dashboard. The region continues to be the biggest victim of the virus with lockdown orders in place. However, possibility of premature lifting of lockdown in some states has been reported recently.

Bottomline

Tesla Inc. trades on NASDAQ as TSLA. The stock quoted USD 809.41, down by 0.23% after market close on 12 May. The Company’s market capitalisation was noted at USD 150.04 billion.

With one of the most prominent examples of a powerful public figure rebelling local health orders amid the novel-coronavirus response is an action that will be spoken about for a very long time. How things shape up from here and how Tesla’s shareholders react to the Company’s decision will be an interesting watch.

Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (Kalkine Media, we or us), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary. Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.

Featured Articles

Top ASX Listed Companies


We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.