Alameda County allows Tesla to reopen under new guidelines

Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland, Melody Hahm, and Dan Roberts discuss the latest from Tesla.

Video Transcript

MYLES UDLAND: All right. Let's talk a little bit more about reopening, and one company that continues to forge ahead with its plans to get its factory restarted-- that, of course, is Tesla. Yesterday, the company got specific guidance from Alameda County to get its plant there-- its manufacturing facility-- reopened. And Melody Hahm, I think the Tesla drama in the last couple of days has really-- at least to my mind, it centers on Tesla's future in California.

And I think given what the county came out and said yesterday, there's real concern that the company would actually call the state's bluff and would move its operations, regardless of how long that took, because Elon Musk, I think, is going to use this as an opportunity to make his point. And right now, it seems like he's gonna probably get his way.

MELODY HAHM: Yeah. It's so interesting because we so often talk about how a company either asks for permission first or forgiveness later. Elon Musk did neither, right? And that's basically his approach to most things in life. But I think backing up a little bit, the context is that the state of California-- Governor Newsom actually greenlit going back to work and for the Fremont location to reopen.

But it's the local officials in Alameda County-- specifically, the public health officials-- who raised a red flag and said, we have concerns with this. But according to tweets last night, as you say, they laid out specific restrictions and guidance for reopening, but Tesla's already reopened on Monday. So it's almost like an after-the-fact kind of OK, these are the things that you should be implementing.

But according to Musk, they've already implemented a lot of those safety procedures, social distancing measures, et cetera, et cetera. I think the bigger question that looms large is even earlier today, Volkswagen's said it's pulling back some of its manufacturing because there just is no demand. And why would they create all of these cars if people aren't going to be buying them?

So I think, sure, we can debate the potential move of Tesla. My personal opinion is that they will not be moving, especially if they've reopened, and that Nevada Gigafactory is actually set to reopen this week, as well. The question is, what's the point of trying to keep up with x amount of demand when that demand is dissipating slowly?

DAN ROBERTS: And guys, just yesterday, or maybe it was two days ago, the three of us were discussing whether Elon Musk would get away with this when he basically said, well, we're opening anyway, even though it flies in the face of the local mandate. And I think we came to the conclusion that he would get away with it, or at least I know Melody and I said that.

And part of me feels like, you know, yes, there are social distancing precautions that the company has promised to take. Now, of course, ironically, it went ahead and opened first. It does feel a little bit like Elon Musk called their bluff. Now, yes, they're going to take those measures, and maybe that's part of why they're gonna be allowed to get away with it.

But part of me is tempted to think that the local authorities just kind of can't be bothered to go after him. I mean, at this point, you know, California authorities are kind of sick of trying to punish Elon Musk for various issues. And I do think that, as we also discussed and debated, this makes it a lot less likely he would deliver on what looked like already an empty threat to move the official company headquarters.

I mean, now, if they're gonna be allowed to continue operations in California, why move? It was all a lot of grandstanding, and it went fine for him.

MELODY HAHM: Yeah. Dan, in some ways, it's almost like the unruly child that you can't manage, right? And Elon Musk has brought a lot of attention, and especially some of those lower-paying jobs in manufacturing that, you know, Trump obviously champions into Fremont. And specifically, I feel like it has been a game of chicken and deflection with some of those local officials.

The Sheriff of Alameda County directed questions to the police department. The police department said they would talk to the county health officials. So it's not that-- people understand that this is a big issue and a health concern, but no one actually wants to take accountability or responsibility and take on Musk himself. So I think that is the pervasive opinion at this point, that no one can really handle him.

MYLES UDLAND: All right. We'll check back tomorrow for the latest developments on Elon Musk's saga on what is going on with his factory out there in northern California.