Lifestyle
Why Tesla’s Fremont Factory needed to reopen, with or without permission
It was imperative for Tesla to reopen its Fremont factory.
Before I dive into my personal thoughts on Tesla’s reopening of its Fremont factory, I just want to reinforce that this is my opinion, and I know this may rub some people the wrong way, but that’s not the intent.
I really encourage anyone who reads this to E-Mail or Tweet me if you have a strong opinion that either agrees or disagrees with my point of view. I won’t take any of the other thoughts personally, as I think a massive part of being a better person is to look at varying points of view, especially ones that differ from my own.
With that being said, let’s get started.
Tesla “reopened” Fremont last Sunday, with some workers telling local media by sunrise on that following Monday morning that they had just completed a 12-hour shift at the plant. How Tesla managed to do this, I don’t know. I found it quite impressive that they were able to fly under the radar for as long as they did.
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Elon Musk had been in a heavy sparring session with Alameda County. After Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, stated a collection of facilities would be able to reopen, Tesla immediately started making plans. And why shouldn’t they? Newsom’s orders applied to manufacturing businesses, among others. Last I checked, Tesla is an automotive manufacturer.
However, Alameda County wasn’t ready to give in. They wouldn’t let Tesla reopen, even though the Governor said it was okay as long as the business maintained health and safety standards. We already know Tesla is more than capable of doing that, considering Giga Shanghai has been up and running since February 10. China was the world epicenter of the virus, and the proper precautions were taken at the Tesla facility in Shanghai. This has led to the facility not only producing new variants and customizable features for the Model 3, but it seems they could be just half a year away from having Phase 2 complete. This would make the Model Y available in China very soon.
Then Tesla released the “Return to Work Playbook.” 38-pages of information that would lead to a safe and healthy work environment for the 10,000 people working at Fremont. Not only would it get Tesla back to cranking out electric vehicles, but it would help people get back to work.
I know that unemployment is available, and I know that people were not losing their benefits, but people do need to work. Tesla is still relatively young, and if the company didn’t start making cars again, people would lose benefits, their pay, and their jobs altogether.
But the impact of closing Tesla’s doors because of a lack of production is much more significant than 10,000 people losing their jobs in Fremont. We’re talking about Tesla employees across the world losing their jobs. Bigger than that, the fight for sustainable transportation and energy would also be set back once again, perhaps ten years or more.
It was evident to me (and Elon Musk) that drastic measures needed to be taken. Musk took it upon himself to call people back to work, and people who wanted to be there could. People that needed to stay home for their health were also allowed to do so.
This is how it should be during a pandemic. Things have seemed to settle down from what I understand, and there is probable cause to believe that figures may be skewed to an extent. However, there is no confirmation that this is the case, and we’ll probably never have one. But why not give people the option to go to work if they choose? This country thrived on businesses running and people working.
Despite all of the evidence that Tesla knew what it was doing, Alameda County did not want the factory to reopen. Musk took it in his own hands and opened the facility himself. This eventually led to some controversy, and people believed the automaker was getting preferential treatment.
Preferential treatment? How? This is the same company that was told it couldn’t open its doors just a day after the Governor said it could. How is that preferential treatment? Tesla literally had to take a huge gamble and open the factory under its own terms just to get some attention.
Look what happened. Tesla reopened, Alameda responded, Tesla gave the County its safety plan, and they’re going to open next week. They are slightly above “Minimum Basic Operations” currently, but next week it appears Tesla will be back to producing its industry-leading electric vehicles.
I know this is going to ruffle some feathers, but Tesla had to make a drastic move to get the County’s attention. They couldn’t be swept under the rug anymore, and they couldn’t continue to have their startup date pushed back. The future of the Earth depends on having these vehicles built.
TSLAQ might say, “It is just a ploy for Elon to put money in his pocket.” Well, news flash, he’s got plenty of it. I think he’s more concerned about the well-being of his employees at this point. He’s more concerned about saving the world from utter destruction if electric cars don’t become the “norm” of transportation soon.
That’s why his risky move to reopen Fremont in an unapproved setting was totally worth it. There is no reason anyone should have to stay home from work if they don’t think it is necessary. If you’re scared of the virus and believe you are in danger, then stay home, especially if you are given that option.
Tesla made the jump, and it worked out, and it may rub some people the wrong way. After all, not everyone is going to agree with you.
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Lifestyle
Tesla hit by Iranian missile debris in Israel
A Tesla in Israel absorbed a direct hit from missile debris, and the glassroof held.
On March 30, 2026, Lara Shusterman was in Netanya, Israel when Iranian ballistic missiles triggered air raid sirens across the city. While she remained in safety, her 2024 Tesla Model Y did not escape untouched. A heavy piece of missile debris struck the car’s massive glass roof, leaving a deep crater but without shattering. In a Facebook post to the Tesla Israel community the following morning, Shusterman described what happened: “The glass did not shatter into dangerous shards. She stopped the damage and pushed the metal part to the ground.” She closed by thanking Elon Musk and the Tesla team for building what she called “security and a sense of trust even in extreme situations.”
Netanya is a coastal city in central Israel, roughly 18 miles north of Tel Aviv and has been among the areas most frequently struck during Iran’s ongoing missile campaign, following coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles is a common occurrence.
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- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
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- A piece of Iranian missile debris that struck Lara Shusterman’s Tesla Model Y in Netanya, Israel on March 30, 2026, after being intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
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- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
Source: Tesla Israel Facebook Group
The incident is a testament to Tesla’s structural engineering. Tesla’s glass roof is designed to support over four times the vehicle’s own weight. That strength has shown up in real-world accidents too. In 2021, a Model Y in California was struck by a falling tree during a storm, with the glass roof holding firm and the cabin remaining intact. In another widely reported incident, a Tesla Model Y plunged 250 feet off the cliff at Devil’s Slide in California in January 2023, with all four occupants, including two young children, surviving.
Disturbing details about Tesla’s 250-foot cliff drop emerge amid initial investigation
Tesla officially launched sales in Israel in early 2021 and captured over 60 percent of Israel’s EV market in the first year. The brand’s foothold in Israel remains significant. Tens of thousands of Teslas are now on Israeli roads, making incidents like Shusterman’s easy to corroborate. On the same week her Model Y took the hit, the U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $178.5 million contract to launch missile tracking satellites, a separate but fitting reminder of how intertwined the Musk ecosystem has become with the realities of modern conflict.
Elon Musk
NASA sends humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972 – Here’s what’s next
NASA’s Artemis II launched four astronauts toward the Moon on the first crewed lunar mission since 1972.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket launches carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist on NASA’s Artemis II mission, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from Operations and Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft launched at 6:35pm EDT from Launch Complex 39B. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA launched four astronauts toward the Moon on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System rocket at 6:35 p.m. EDT, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon and back.
The mission does not include a lunar landing. It is a test flight designed to validate the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems, navigation, and communications in deep space with a crew aboard for the first time. If the crew reaches the planned distance of 252,000 miles from Earth, they will set a new record for the farthest any human has ever traveled, surpassing even the Apollo 13 distance record.
As Teslarati reported, SpaceX holds a central role in what comes next. The Starship Human Landing System is under contract to carry astronauts to the lunar surface for Artemis IV, now targeting 2028, after NASA restructured its mission sequence due to delays in Starship’s orbital refueling demonstration. Before any Moon landing happens, SpaceX must prove it can transfer propellant between two Starships in orbit, something no rocket program has done at this scale.
The last time humans left Earth’s orbit was 53 years ago. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 were the final people to walk on the Moon, a record that stands to this day. Elon Musk has long argued that returning is not optional. “It’s been now almost half a century since humans were last on the Moon,” Musk said. “That’s too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the Moon.”
The Artemis program involves 60 countries signed onto the Artemis Accords, and this mission sets several firsts beyond distance. Glover becomes the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American astronaut to reach the Moon’s vicinity. According to NASA’s live mission updates, the spacecraft’s solar arrays deployed successfully after liftoff and the crew completed a proximity operations demonstration within the first hours of flight.
Artemis II is step one. The Moon landing and the permanent lunar base come later. But after more than five decades, humans are heading back.
Elon Musk
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is coming to the Tesla Diner with new ambitions
Tesla’s Optimus robot left the Hollywood Diner within months of opening. Now Musk is planning its return with a bigger role and a major Gen 3 upgrade underway.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus robot was one of the most talked-about features when the Tesla Diner opened on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood on July 21, 2025. Dubbed “Poptimus” by Tesla fans, the Gen 2 robot stood upstairs at the retro-futuristic, drive-in theater and Tesla Supercharging station, scooping popcorn into bags and handing them to guests with a wave.
The diner itself had been years in the making. Elon Musk first floated the idea in 2018 with a tweet about building an “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant” at a Hollywood Supercharger. What eventually opened was a unique two-story neon-lit space, with 80 EV charging stalls, and Optimus serving as a live demonstration of where Tesla’s ambitions were headed.
If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes.
An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging! https://t.co/zmbv6GfqKf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2025
But Optimus did not stay long, and was gone by December 2025.
Now, the robot is set to return with a more demanding job. Musk has ambitions for Optimus to take on a food runner role in 2026, delivering meals directly to cars at the Supercharger stalls. While the latest Gen 3 Optimus is likely to initially take on its previous popcorn-serving role, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Optimus to see a quick promotion. With improved  hand dexterity that features 50 total actuators and 22 degrees of freedom per hand, and significantly more powerful processing through Tesla’s latest AI5 chip that includes Grok-powered voice interaction, Musk described Optimus at the Abundance Summit on March 12, 2026, as “by far the most advanced robot in the world, Nothing’s even close.”
Back to work
See you at Tesla Diner tomorrow pic.twitter.com/H3tTajrUbu
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) March 30, 2026
That confidence is backed by a major manufacturing shift. At the Q4 2025 earnings call in January, Musk announced Tesla would discontinue the Model S and Model X and convert those Fremont production lines to build Optimus. “It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end,” he said, calling for a pivot that reflects where the Tesla’s future lies.
Elon Musk drops a bomb regarding Tesla Model S, X inventory
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