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Tesla shuts down California and New York factories, keeps Nevada open during coronavirus crisis
By Gary Gastelu
Published March 20, 2020
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Tesla will suspend most operations at its Fremont, Calif., and Buffalo, N.Y, factories at the end of the workday on Monday to bring itself in line with local measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the company has confirmed in a press release.
Tesla's Fremont factory is its only automobile final assembly location in the U.S. (Sam Hall/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Earlier this month, Tesla built its one-millionth car at the Fremont facility.
The automaker will continue vehicle deliveries and service as possible, and both its charging network and battery factory in Sparks, Nev., will remain open, as the local sheriff has deemed the facility an “essential” business, according to the Reno-Gazette Journal.
"Tesla makes batteries and Powerwalls and whatnot, it is still part of the supply chain," Storey County Sheriff Gerald Antinoro told the newspaper. "As far as I am concerned, at the moment they are good to stay open but the county is seeking further clarification from the governor."
Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Honda and Nissan have temporarily suspended operations at all of their U.S. factories.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has called the world’s response to the coronavirus outbreak “dumb” and more dangerous than the virus itself. He has, however, joined other auto industry executives in suggesting that Tesla could help with the supply of ventilators needed to treat patients suffering from COVID-19, but added that he doesn’t think they will still be in demand by the time the company could make enough.
Musk was criticized on Thursday for tweeting that children are “essentially immune” from the coronavirus, which some argued violated Twitter’s new rules against misinformation concerning it, but the social media platform told Business Insider that it would not remove the tweet after reviewing it, taking “overall context and conclusion” into account.
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