Tesla To Open Global Engineering HQ In Palo Alto

Tesla Motors has announced that it is going to base its global engineering and AI headquarters in Palo Alto at the former Hewlett Packard Enterprise campus, the company said on Wednesday.

Company CEO Elon Musk and California Gov. Gavin Newsom made the joint announcement at the now-closed Hewlett Packard Enterprise site located at 3000 Hanover St.

The announcement comes after Musk moved the company’s headquarters to Austin, Texas, in 2021, criticizing the state for high taxes, high housing costs, long commutes and limitations in growth, after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic caused Alameda County to order the company to shut down its Fremont plant, halting production.

That same year, Tesla agreed to lease 325,000 square feet of the HP headquarters site, according to the the Registry real-estate news site.

Musk’s move of an important segment of his electric-vehicle operation to Palo Alto marked a thawing of his sometimes fractious relationship with the Golden State.

“This is a poetic transition from the company that founded Silicon Valley to Tesla, and we’re very excited to make this our global engineering headquarters in California,” Musk said.

He didn’t indicate how many jobs would potentially be relocated to Palo Alto.

Musk noted that the company’s Fremont manufacturing plant has the highest output of any automotive plant in North America. It will build 600,000 cars or more this year.

“I’m looking forward to an exciting partnership with California … to transition the world to sustainable energy as quickly as possible,” he said.

Newsom noted Tesla got its start in Palo Alto to become the most dominant electric vehicle manufacturer in the state. California is now home to 55 zero-emission-vehicle-related manufacturing companies, more than any other state, he said. California is the largest manufacturing state in the country and is now the fourth largest economy in the world, he said, with zero-emission-vehicles being a top export.

“California has the number one EV market in the U.S. The future happens here first. As Tesla revolutionized electric vehicles, their new global engineering and AI headquarters in Palo Alto will help create the technology of the future — right here in California,” Newsom said.

“It takes visionary leadership and partnership to change the way we produce and consume energy in this state, in this nation and the world,” he said.