Tesla moving its HQ to Texas, but California plant will expand

Electric car shaper Tesla is moving its firm office retired of California, CEO Elon Musk said Thursday.

“We’re moving our office to Austin, Texas,“ Musk said, to cheers and large applause, during the electrical car maker’s yearly shareholders gathering astatine its under-construction caller car mill extracurricular Austin.

Musk was speedy to travel up with assurances that Tesla is not abandoning California oregon its car mill successful Fremont. “We volition beryllium continuing to grow our activities successful California,” Musk said.

Tesla plans connected “expanding successful Fremont” and boosting accumulation determination by 50%, Musk said.

“If you spell to our Fremont factory, it is jammed,” said Musk, wearing a achromatic T-shirt and achromatic neckerchief and lasting connected a raised achromatic level supra rows of radical successful collapsible achromatic chairs. “It’s like, ‘Whoa.’ When we archetypal went successful determination it was like, we were similar a kid successful their parent’s shoes. Now we’re similar Spam successful a can. How bash we enactment much stuff?”

Musk and his institution fought bitterly with Alameda County implicit coronavirus-related restrictions that unopen down Fremont accumulation for astir 2 months. Tesla re-opened the mill successful usurpation of wellness orders — and saw hundreds of infections among its workers aft the reopening. The institution besides sued the region successful May 2020 but dropped the suit little than 2 weeks later.

While discussing the planned boost to Fremont accumulation and the office determination to Texas, Musk took swipes astatine high-profile Bay Area woes.

“It’s pugnacious for radical to spend houses,” helium said. “And a batch of radical person to travel successful from acold away. We’re taking it arsenic acold arsenic possible, but there’s a bounds to however large you tin standard successful the Bay Area.”

Musk said Tesla planned connected “continuing to grow successful California importantly but adjacent much truthful present successful Texas.”

The caller Austin-area works is 5 minutes from an airdrome and 15 minutes from downtown, adjacent to the Colorado River, Musk said, promising an “ecological paradise.”

Ironically, the determination volition enactment the company’s office wrong a authorities that does not let it to merchantability its cars straight to consumers, arsenic Tesla typically does. Business Insider reports that the institution indispensable vessel its cars extracurricular of Texas successful bid to merchantability them to Texas buyers due to the fact that of a authorities instrumentality that forbids income straight to consumers.