Tesla Motors Picks San Jose for $250 Million 'Model S' Plant and HQ
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 09.17.08
Tesla Goes to San Jose
We knew that the manufacturing plant of Tesla's second electric car, the Model S, would be in California, but we didn't know where. Today we learn that San Jose has been picked to host not only Tesla Motors' EV plant and R&D, but also the company's headquarters.
"Construction of the proposed $250 million facility on an 89-acre site, located at Zanker Road and Highway 237 near the San Jose Water Pollution Control Plant in North San Jose, is planned to begin in the summer of 2009. The first vehicles will likely roll off the assembly line in late 2010. When fully operational, the facility will employ approximately 1,000 workers." The plant is expected to get LEED Gold certification. Read on for more details on the Model S and incentives to Tesla.
We don't have photos of the Model S yet. This is the Roadster EV.
Tesla Model S
The Model S, formely known as "Whitestar", will be a 4-door, 5-passenger luxury sports sedan (we've heard some comparisons to the BMW 5), all electric like the Roadster. It should sell for about $60,000 and have a range of about 225 miles on a charge.
Incentives
California offered incentives worth about $15 million and possibly more. That includes waiving rent for the first 10 years of the 40-year lease on the San Jose property and waiving state sales tax on $100 million worth of equipment.
But obviously the state and city are hoping that this will be worth it:
“Just as with automotive manufacturers located elsewhere throughout the world, Tesla will require supplier companies located near the new San Jose facility to facilitate just-in-time manufacturing and inventory control, which will further spawn new jobs and opportunities in the region,” said Paul Krutko, chief development officer, City of San Jose. “With a concentration of clean tech companies locating in North San Jose, Tesla is providing tremendous momentum to the creation of San Jose’s ‘clean tech cluster,’” said Krutko.
Tesla is also said to be targeting an IPO next year if the market conditions are better.
Via New York Times, San Jose City Media Release
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I would love to work at that plant. I wonder what kind of engineers they are looking for.
Thank you Tesla for rocking so much! I can't wait until I can afford to buy one!
I just don't see the point to these cars. They are all about ego, not eco. Electric - great, but exotic cars don't burn a lot of gas. They sit in the garage. Somebody please make a minivan or low-priced sedan. This is a ridiculous waste of everything involved.
Oh, poor, poor Anon-E-Mouse,
Small company, cutting edge technology, trickle down, and economy of scale.
The point of these cars is to begin by promoting the idea of a sexy electric car. If they had rolled out a tiny, ugly, low-speed electric, they would have received little attention from the car mags. They pay attention to anything sporty and good-looking, almost exclusively.
The Roadster is hardly an exotic at $100K, and neither will the Model-S be.
If they can really make the Model-S compete with the BMW 5-series, then they will get some major buzz going, and also create a halo effect for any follow-ups such as an affordable sedan or compact.
The car does 0-60 in 4.9 seconds how many bmw's can do that and 225 miles on a single charge i heard it only takes 15min to charge who cares about ford or GM or Ford go Green or go broke