Tesla's Elon Musk rolls up sleeves in California and near Berlin

A brief look at the almost empty parking lot in front of Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, showed passersby that the coronavirus had brought production to a standstill. The factory closed on March 23, but now there's a new development making headlines.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed this week the company had restarted its California plant in a move that defied local-goverment-ordered measures to contain the coronavirus. The parking lot at the facgory, which employs some 10,000 people, was seen nearly full again.

On Twitter, Musk has threatened to move his plant to another state, saying that whether the company keeps any manufacturing in Fremont at all depends on how Tesla is treated in the future. He also warned he might move the firm's HQ to Texas or Nevada.

While Fremont may be more in the headlines right now, Tesla is forging ahead with its Gigafactory project outside Berlin despite all COVID-19 restrictions. A forest area has already been fully cleared for the plant, but there's no official building permission yet.

Meeting demands by environmentalists, Tesla has agreed to relocate bats and even ants living on the compound of the future Gigafactory. The firm has just applied for permission to expand preparatory work concerning raft footings of buildings and the water supply system.

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier insists the coronavirus crisis will not result in any major delays for Tesla's project outside Berlin. For the state of Brandenburg, where Grünheide is located, as well as Germany as a whole, it's clearly a signature project that — as supporters say — must not be botched.

But as a total of 373 complaints by locals have not yet been dealt with because of the pandemic, Tesla's ambitious timetable looks shaky. Production near Berlin is to kick off in 2021, but local protesters are worried about water consumption and fear a full-blown transport chaos in their small community.