Tesla chief Elon Musk told investors on Thursday that the leading electric vehicle maker is moving its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Texas, where it is building a massive car and battery complex. 

Tesla joins Oracle, HP and Toyota Motor in moving U.S. headquarters to Texas from California, which has relatively high taxes and living costs. While Silicon Valley also is a hive of development of new ideas and companies, Texas is known for cheaper labor and less stringent regulation. 

"I'm excited to announce that we're moving our headquarters to Austin, Texas," Musk said at an annual shareholders meeting.  

"This is not a matter of, sort of, Tesla leaving California," he said, noting the company plans to increase output from its main California factory and Nevada factory by 50 percent. 

Musk said Tesla sales are growing strongly, and the company is ramping up deliveries despite shortages of computer chips and other components.  

But the plant in California is hitting its limits on how much more it can handle, he said.  

"When we first went in there it was it like a kid in his parents' shoes; tiny us and this giant factory," Musk said of Tesla's inaugural plant in Silicon Valley. 

"Now, its like a spam can. We are hitting the sides of the bowl."  

He noted that the cost of living in Silicon Valley is higher for workers, with home prices putting them out of reach for workers, who often wind up with long commutes.  

Musk has clashed with regulators in California and is among high-profile tech figures who personally left the state for places with lower income taxes and less regulation. 

(With input from Reuters and AFP)