The CEO of Tesla Elon Musk announced the move of the site of the full-electric car manufacturer in Texas. The announcement comes at the annual meeting with investors but spells out a decision that has been in the air for some time, especially after Musk’s clashes with Californian politicians during the last year and a half lockdowns.
Elon Musk sposta Tesla in Texas
The headquarters in Alameda County, California has one of the main factories for Tesla. But according to Musk it was no longer the case to invest in that infrastructure, “broken down” according to the CEO. In May, the CEO had argued with the politicians they had imposed the closure of the Fremont plant without the necessary measures for social distancing. At the time he tweeted: “Tesla will immediately move its HQ and future plans to Tezas / Nevada immediately.”
In addition to the clashes with politics, Musk reported the problem of the cost of housing in California, which creates problems for factory workers. “There is a limit to when you can grow up in the Bay Area. In Austin, our factory is five minutes from the airport and 15 minutes from downtown ”.
Despite the relocation of the headquarters, Tesla plans to increase production in Nevada and California by 50%. “It’s not like Tesla is leaving California ”reassured the CEO.
Tesla isn’t the first company to leave California for the Austin area. The tech giant Oracle it did in 2020, as well as HP e Toyota, which has moved its American headquarters there. It is commonly believed that California has more stringent laws regarding the treatment of the workforce, as well as having a higher average cost of living and higher taxes than other US states. Texas, on the other hand, is known for less expensive workforce and less binding regulations.
The decision therefore appears to be purely economic: for Tesla, working in Texas costs less and requires fewer controls than staying in Silicon Valley.