Tesla factory's reopening draws mixed reactions

Analysts say Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk's decision to reopen its California factory in defiance of local authorities is risky for employees, shareholders and the broader community. But some business owners are cheering the move, saying the economy needs to get going.

On Monday Musk restarted Tesla's huge manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif. despite being told not to by Alameda County health officials.

Public health experts caution that reopening too fast could causes cases to spike. The novel coronavirus has killed more than 80,000 people in the U.S.

Musk could be putting his workers and shareholders at risk if employees get infected with COVID-19 or die from the disease.

"It's a big risk to take morally and ethically. It's a big risk to put the company, too, because if that happens, you can be sure the company will be sued. You can be pretty sure the company will lose," Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Some auto industry experts say Musk could hurt himself with electric vehicle buyers who favor more liberal causes.

"I'm not sure that the electric car buyers who are not Elon fanboys will like it quite so much because a lot of them are in favor of safety and are in favor of protecting workers," Gordon said.

At the Fit4All Gym in Lebanon, Illinois, owner David Tate considers Elon Musk a huge ally in the fight against government coronavirus orders that Tate says are driving him into the poorhouse. Tate reopened his 250-member gym in defiance of state orders on Monday.

"It'll never turn back to normal, not in any short period of time. But we have to get back to some normalcy, and we have to get our economy back," Tate said.

Like other business owners hit hard by coronavirus shutdown orders, Tate says Musk is a leader in the growing movement to reopen in the face of government orders, giving smaller businesses a boost and letting them know they're not in the fight alone.

But Tesla's reopening flies in the face of Newsom's statewide order, which allows counties to begin reopening if they meet benchmarks including testing capacity, hospitalizations and contact tracing. Alameda County is behind on several, including completing fewer than 30 tests per day per 100,000 people; Newsom's order requires counties to hit 200 tests per day.

Tesla's factory reopened Monday with Musk practically daring local authorities to arrest him. The plant apparently continued operations on Tuesday. The company met a Monday deadline to submit a site-specific plan to protect worker safety, which Alameda County's Public Health Department is reviewing, said county spokeswoman Neetu Balram.

The department has deemed the factory a nonessential business that can't fully open under virus restrictions. The Fremont plant had been closed since March 23.

Alameda County was among six Bay Area counties that were the first in the nation to impose stay-at-home orders in mid-March. Newsom has repeatedly said counties can impose restrictions that are more stringent than state orders.

The Bay Area order, which Tesla has sued to overturn, has been extended until the end of the month. But counties plan to allow some limited business and manufacturing starting May 18, the same day Detroit automakers plan to reopen auto assembly plants. Some auto parts plants were to restart production this week.