Tesla to expand presence in Palo Alto, California

Tesla Inc has will lease office space from HP Inc near the automaker’s current headquarters in Palo Alto, California, a person knowledgeable with the matter informed Reuters.

The news about Tesla’s expansion in Palo Alto came even after CEO Elon Musk announced last week that the automaker was shifting its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas.

The person said the automaker does not have enough space for its present offices, which led the company to secure another site.

Musk has said the automaker will keep expanding activities in California, including increase of output for its car factory in Fremont and its battery plant in Nevada by 50%.

Musk, who had said the Texas move was because of lack of space at the Fremont factory and expensive housing prices in California, is yet to mention how many workers will be shifted to Austin.

Tesla has 12,000 workers in the San Francisco Bay area, including 750 in Palo Alto.