By Paul O’Donnell and The Associated Press
16:31 on July 22, 2020 CDT
High-flying electric car manufacturer Tesla will build its largest U.S. meetinghouse near Austin, creating what CEO Elon Musk describes as an “ecological paradise” along the Colorado River.
The $1.1 billion plant “will be impressive” and employ at least 5,000 workers, Musk said Wednesday in a conference call with investors and analysts. The plant will build Tesla’s new Cybertruck van and its next semi-tractor pickup truck and serve as the production time for your Model Y SUV.
“If you are interested in running in Gigafactory Texas … let us know, ” said Musk.
It will be one of the job creation projects in Texas for the next decade. Toyota invested $1 billion in the move of its North American headquarters and nearly 4,000 jobs from California to Plano. Its campus opened there in 2017.
Tesla recently surpassed Toyota as the world’s most valuable automaker.
“Tesla is one of the most exciting and cutting-edge corporations in the world, and we are proud to welcome your team to the state of Texas,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. “Texas has the highest productivity in the country and we have built an economic environment that allows corporations like Tesla to innovate and succeed.”
Austin Mayor Steve Adler called the victory “a significant economic recovery in East Austin, while fighting the economic effects of the virus.”
“This gives us 3 things we want,” Adler said in a statement. “This gives us thousands of well-paying jobs that don’t want a 4-year degree. Your factory will be bigger for men and the planet. This new opportunity will make our city fairer for everyone who lives there.”
Austin beat Tulsa, whom Musk hailed as a possible long-term investment. Oklahoma has not had an auto plant since General Motors closed its Oklahoma City facility in 2005. But Tulsa is home to an American Airlines maintenance facility that employs about 5,200 people.
Tesla will build on a 2,100-acre site in Travis County, near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and get more than $60 million in county and local school district tax breaks over the next decade. State incentives are also imaginable for the plant, which will cover more than four million square feet.
The company stated that it would pay at least $15 according to hourly fitness and supply insurance, paid vacation and other benefits.
Tesla doesn’t have much time to run the plant if it needs to meet production targets. The corporation says on its online page that the Cybertruck will be available by the end of next year.
Tesla’s plant in Fremont, California, is now the only meeting plant in the United States. Tesla has a U.S. plant in Reno, Nevada, where it manufactures batteries for its cars and employs about 6,500 people. Tesla also has a plant in Shanghai and a structure in Germany.
The new plant will be Tesla’s largest, possibly not employing as many staff as the 10,000 employees at its California plant. Musk was dissatisfied with California, where last year he failed to comply with local orders to remain closed to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus. He also threatened to move the company’s headquarters out of Palo Alto.
Musk has already invested in Texas, bringing operations for its corporate spaceX rocket to McGregor and the Gulf of Mexico near the Mexican border.
Ironically, Tesla legally sells its cars in Texas. State law requires cars to be sold through authorized dealerships, not in corporate stores, the commercial style used through Tesla. The Shingles, however, can order Teslas.
As of June, Tesla had delivered 1,534 cars and trucks in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties, according to The Freeman Metroplex Recap, which tracks car sales in North Texas. By comparison, Toyota sold about 19,000 cars in all 4 counties.
The plant announcement came here when Tesla announced its fourth consecutive benefit quarter on Wednesday, surpassing a seven-week closure related to a california plant pandemic. Its second quarter profit totaled $104 million.
The unexpected gain, at a loss of $408 million a year earlier, caused Tesla’s stock to rise 5.1% to $1674.09 after hours. The shares closed Wednesday to $1592.33.
Paul O’Donnell, commercial editor. Paul directs the paintings of award-winning economic news staff in the fourth largest metropolitan area in the country. He has been the advertising editor for The News since 2015. Previously, he was editor-in-chief of the Dallas Business Journal and industry editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The Associated Press
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