Tesla's plan to reopen California factory could violate coronavirus rules

Californian regulations, which have remained in place since March, forbid the 'manufacturing or assembly of nonessential products'

Sales of Tesla Model 3 and Model S sedans and Model X SUVs fell for the first time in nearly two years (Getty Images)

Tesla may be planning to reopen the company’s car production plant in Fremont, California, which may violate the state’s coronavirus regulations.

According to someone "familiar with factory operations", speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle under the condition of anonymity, workers returned to the plant on Wednesday to prepare it for reopening next week.

Additional measures have reportedly been put in place to protect against spreading the coronavirus. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.

The report follows comments made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has consistently denounced the lockdown in the United States. The US has more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other country in the world, recently topping one million.

Mr Musk said the lockdown was “fascist” and demanded authorities “give people back their goddamn freedom”.

“I would call it ‘forcibly imprisoning people in their homes’ against all their constitutional rights, in my opinion, and breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why people came to America or built this country,” Mr Musk also said in a call last week.

However, despite the potential for the plant to re-open, a spokesperson for the Fremont Police Department said there were no plans to investigate the site.

“We’re all sort of in a little bit of a grey area,” said department spokesperson Geneva Bosques. This is because of the state governor's announcement that some business would be allowed to operate on a small scale if adequate safety measures were taken.

Under the current health order, the spokesperson said that “having a small team of people in there [who] are social distancing may not violate the health order.”

Two previous visits were made to the plant, Mr Bosques said, where it was found that Tesla was following basic minimum operations.

It would not be the first time that Tesla has defied shelter-in-place orders. The company insisted workers continue for a week after 17 March, when the conditions were put in place, even though the plant was deemed non-essential by health authorities. The order, which remains in place, forbids “manufacturing or assembly of nonessential products.”