Tesla Motors Inc. has recently expanded its factory location search from two sites to three. Tesla, known as the luxury electric car brand, has been scouting across the U.S. for a site they can build a battery plant on. Tesla hopes to be able to cut the cost of its vehicles if they are able to build the car’s lithium-ion batteries in America. It is being dubbed the “Gigafactory,” but an official announcement of the site Tesla will select is not expected to come before the end of the year.
Chief Executive Elon Musk announced at a press conference “We’re probably going to do two or maybe three states all the way to creating a foundation and completing the plans and getting approval.” The goal is to begin plans in a couple of location simultaneously so that construction will not be delayed when Tesla is ready to break ground. The two or maybe three sites will be selected from Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California, and the final site will be selected from the two or three. Some analysts have speculated that Tesla needs to pick a location immediately if it expects to open the factory in 2017 on time.
While confirming he would remain CEO for at least another four or five years, Musk elaborated on Tesla’s plans explaining that the Gigafactory will be geared towards producing batteries for the Generation 3 Tesla. This Tesla will have a starting price of $35,000, about half of what a Tesla currently sells for. The car is expected to be released in late 2016. Musk and Tesla’s supplier partner Panasonic Corp are both confident that by building a battery factory in the U.S., they will be able to drive the cost of production down by at least 30%. Musk plans to then turn around and be able to offer greater discounts to Tesla’s customers.
While working on opening the new factory, Musk said Tesla will also focus on building an electric truck as well as self driving vehicles. The company is also striving to make cars that will cost less than $35,000 and they have also began a partnership with Foxconn, a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing company. Though no official statements have been made by Tesla, Musk has said that a relationship with Foxconn will help increase the rate at which it is capable of expanding.
Photo: Tesla
