Tesla shifting headquarters from California to Texas

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed plans to move the company’s headquarters to Austin, Texas.

Musk announced the move from Palo Alto, California at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting last Thursday, though he did not confirm a specific timeframe. Tesla's HQ has been based in Palo Alto since 2009.

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Tesla Cybertruck

The EV giant is building its next Gigafactory in Austin, and aims to start production by the end of 2021. Alongside existing Model 3 and Model Y EVs, the plant will build Semi prime movers and the much-vaunted Cybertruck.

Musk himself moved to the state last year, apparently spending most of his time living near SpaceX’s Boca Chica testing site.

The billionaire had threatened to leave California amid the state’s tough pandemic restrictions last May, which he said made production difficult.

Musk didn’t blame California’s health orders at the shareholder meeting, instead referencing the high cost of living endured by Californian employees. "It's tough for people to afford houses [in California],” he said. “And a lot of people have to come from far away."

He also said Texas will offer Tesla more room to expand, arguing “There’s a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area.”

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"This is not a matter of, sort of, Tesla leaving California,” Musk clarified, announcing Tesla will increase production at its Fremont factory by 50%. "To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California.”

A number of powerhouse firms have recently departed Silicon Valley in favour of Texas, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Oracle. Toyota relocated its North American headquarters from Los Angeles to Plano, Texas, in 2017.