Elon Musk to move Tesla headquarters from California to Texas
Electric carmaker Tesla is to move its headquarters from California to Texas, chief executive Elon Musk has said.
The announcement comes after the billionaire tycoon was embroiled in a row with West Coast politicians over their handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Tesla will be the latest in a number of firms, including Hewlett Packard and Toyota, to relocate to the Lone Star State, which has cheaper labour and less strict regulations, while California has relatively high taxes and living costs.
Elon Musk moved to Texas from California last year
Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting, held at the Texas car factory in Austin, Mr Musk said the California plant in Fremont was “jammed” and staff found it difficult to afford houses in the area.
He said: “We’re taking it as far as possible, but there’s a limit to how big you can scale it in the Bay Area.
“Just to be clear, though, we will be continuing to expand our activities in California. This is not a matter of leaving California.”
He pointed out the firm plans to increase output from its sites in California and Nevada by 50%.
Mr Musk himself moved to Texas from California in December to focus on the electric carmaker’s giant new manufacturing complex and his SpaceX rocket company, which has a launch site at the state’s southern tip.
The tech entrepreneur has also had a fractious relationship at times with California, having previously threatened to move Tesla headquarters and future projects to Texas during a row over the closure of the Fremont factory during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tesla factory in Fremont is ‘jammed’, says Mr Musk
At the meeting, he showed off a slide of a cowboy-style belt buckle emblazoned with “Don’t Mess With T” – the T in the style of the Tesla logo.
The phrase is based on a well-known Texas anti-littering campaign – Don’t Mess with Texas.
While welcoming Tesla’s announcement that it will expand production in Fremont, business leaders highlighted the headquarters move as the latest sign of the region’s ongoing issues.
Jim Wunderman, president and chief executive of the Bay Area Council business group, said: “Mr Musk’s announcement highlights yet again the urgency for California to address our housing affordability crisis and the many other challenges that make it so difficult for companies to grow here.”
Last year, tech giant Oracle decided to move its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, pointing out the move would give its employees more flexibility about where and how they work.
The electric carmaker is building a giant new factory in Austin, Texas
At the AGM, Mr Musk also pointed to the company’s record vehicle deliveries this year, while noting that global supply-chain disruptions that have led to a shortage of computer chips remain a challenge.
He said: “It looks like we have a good chance of maintaining that into the future. Basically, if we get the chips, we can do it.”
As a result, production of Tesla’s angular Cybertruck pickup is not likely to begin before the end of 2022, he said, estimating the company would reach “volume” production of the vehicle in 2023.
“We should be through our severest supply chain shortages in ’23,” he said.
“I’m optimistic that will be the case.”
:: Listen and subscribe to The Ian King Business Podcast here.
Tesla said last week that it delivered 241,300 electric vehicles in the third quarter, even as it wrestled with the shortage of computer chips that has hit the entire car industry.
So far this year, Tesla has sold around 627,300 vehicles. That puts it on pace to soundly beat last year’s total of 499,550.
Americans are choosing their new president today.
Either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be the new occupant of the White House in January.
For many people, their vote will make little difference.
The main crunch points are in seven states and one inner state district.
In the following game, you can predict who will win in each swing state.
We will tell you at the end who the new president will be – if you have made correct predictions.
Good luck!
Voters across 50 states are preparing to cast their ballots after a bitterly contested US election campaign, which will see Donald Trump or Kamala Harris become president.
In the last few hours, both candidates have been giving their final pitches. “The momentum is on our side,” Ms Harris told a crowd in Philadelphia that chanted back, “We will win”.
“Tonight, then, we finish as we started: with optimism, with energy, with joy,” she said, while enjoying the support of celebrity endorsements on the day from Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Jon Bon Jovi.
In contrast, Mr Trump ended his campaign in Michigan, repeating key messages about the economy and immigration.
A handful of states will play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the election. Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin hold the keys to the White House.
To become president, the winning candidate needs 270 electoral votes or more, with each state carrying a different number of votes.
But the focus has been on Pennsylvania which carries 19 electoral votes, the most of all the swing states.
It has been a remarkable journey for both candidates – with Mr Trump surviving two assassination attempts and Ms Harris not even originally in the running.
Katy Perry performed in Pittsburgh in support of Kamala Harris. Pic: AP
For more than a year, the 2024 presidential race seemed destined for a rematch between Joe Biden and Mr Trump – but a disastrous TV debate by Mr Biden eventually forced him to withdraw from the ticket.
The Democratic party’s decision to replace Mr Biden with his vice president transformed the race and shifted polls in Ms Harris’s favour. But only just.
Many polls are too tight to call and, with a large margin of error, most experts are refusing to predict the outcome.
Read more:
Overseas ballots face legal challenge
You decide the new president
Should we fear Trumponomics?
Later, attention will turn to those battleground states including Georgia, which is among the first polls to close at 7pm local time (midnight UK time).
State election officials told Sky News they could have a result as early as 10pm (3am UK time).
Even so, it could be several days before the US has a definitive result.
Voters are not just selecting a president. In addition, 10 states will hold abortion-related ballots, half of which would overturn existing restrictions.
Predict who you think will win in each swing state and we’ll tell you who the president will be if you’re right.
Tonight, Sky News will have access to the most comprehensive exit poll and vote-counting results from every state, county and demographic across America through its US-partner network NBC.
You can find out more about Sky News’ coverage here.
US
Voter in UK ‘terrified’ by US election legal battle, as up to 4,000 ballots challenged in Pennsylvania
Up to 4,000 people voting overseas in the US election are having their ballots challenged in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
They include Selma Aldi, 47, from Camden in north London who received a letter on Sunday explaining that her ballot in the US presidential election is at risk of being rejected.
“It was a shock,” she said. “It was terrifying to be targeted, to potentially lose a right that I hold as very important. It’s even a feeling that someone is questioning my identity.”
The trainee GP, who grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania left America in 2000 but has voted via absentee ballot in every US presidential election since.
A letter from election officials in Dauphin County outlines the legal challenge. It reads: “The applicant is not registered to vote and therefore is not eligible to vote in Pennsylvania.
“Under Pennsylvania law, it is a felony to permit any person to vote who is not registered.”
A hearing on the legal challenge is scheduled for Friday, in which Ms Aldi can respond.
Around 2.8 million US citizens living abroad are entitled to vote in the election, no matter where they are on polling day.
But each state has different procedures and rules on how election paperwork can be sent and received.
Selma Aldi on her graduation from the University of Pennsylvania, seated next to a figure of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the US.
But Ari Savitzky, senior staff Attorney at the ACLU said “any attempt to challenge [voters] eligibility is a clear violation of their rights”.
He told Sky News: “Between 3,000 and 4,000 challenges have been filed in Pennsylvania to the absentee ballots of US citizens living abroad.
“For decades, federal law has guaranteed the right of US citizens living abroad to vote in federal elections at their last US residence.
“In addition to being legally baseless, these challenges are an abuse to voters and to election administrators.”
Read more from Sky News:
US election: Colleges, swing states and how it all works
Should we fear Trumponomics?
What happens if there’s a tie in the US election?
Deborah Hinchey from another voting rights group, All Voting is Local, said: “Election deniers across Pennsylvania have submitted thousands of mass challenges to overseas voters.
“They want to block as many ballots as possible and silence our voices… but these baseless challenges have failed before and the proper checks and balances are in place to make sure they’ll fail again,” she added.
Tonight, Sky News will have access to the most comprehensive exit poll and vote-counting results from every state, county and demographic across America through its US-partner network NBC.
You can find out more about Sky News’ coverage here.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway