Tesla to Build Model S EV in San Jose, CA
17 September 2008
Tesla Motors Inc. plans to build a $250 million facility to manufacture the Model S battery-electric luxury sedan in the heart of Silicon Valley. The nation’s leading all-electric car company will also relocate its corporate headquarters and research and development efforts to a consolidated campus in San Jose, Calif.
Model S is Tesla’s zero-emission, five-passenger luxury sedan powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. It is expected to have a base price of about $60,000 and get about 240 miles per charge with exceptional performance. The first sedans will likely roll off the assembly line in late 2010.
Tesla President and CEO Ze’ev Drori announced Wednesday that construction on the 89-acre site would begin in the summer of 2009. When fully operational, the facility will employ approximately 1,000 workers.
Tesla said it selected San Jose in part because the region already enjoys a high concentration of highly skilled engineers and support infrastructure. The factory—expected to achieve gold certification from US Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)—will be 20 miles from the current headquarters in San Carlos, minimizing inconvenience for more than 250 employees.
Tesla has delivered about 30 Roadsters so far, and is ramping up production to meet demand. About 1,200 people have put down deposits to reserve a Roadster.
Go baby go!
Posted by: creativforce | 17 September 2008 at 10:06 AM
I would like to see Barack Obama drive to one of his speeches in the Tesla, and explain that the car of the future is here.
Posted by: John Taylor | 17 September 2008 at 10:32 AM
Seems like a crazy place to make cars - surely they would be better in a lower cost region of the USA?
I can understand that they have lots of engineers there, but it seems a very expensive location for automotive production - we may never see an inexpensive Tesla.
Posted by: mahonj | 17 September 2008 at 10:51 AM
Mahonj: I'm with you. I thought the Albuquerque site made a lot more sense. Tesla can probably sell all the cars it produces for a couple of years, but as electric cars go mainstream Tesla's business model starts to look suspect.
Posted by: Nick | 17 September 2008 at 11:38 AM
The Tesla company is a rich man's company making cars for rich people.
I'm not knocking them. I'm just calling it how I see it.
I think the Tesla is a great demonstration of what can be done and will hopefully inspire others to boost R&D in the EV area.
The first Ford's couldn't be affored by the people who made them until a few innovations were made. Hopefully we'll see a repeat of history.
Posted by: TM | 17 September 2008 at 12:32 PM
Why isn't everybody complaining that the price is too high and that nobody will spend that much money for a car? O wait, I almost forgot, GM doesn't make this.
Posted by: Dan A | 17 September 2008 at 01:51 PM
Nick, I expect that Cali will give the San Jose location the same (or better) incentives that New Mexico offered. Plus, the principles are Valley guys. Henry Ford lived in Detroit. These guys can bike to work... er, or drive a new Model S (carpooling of course.)
I wish these guys all kinds of luck. A new car company is not an easy thing. But they have done brilliantly so far and are a boon to the electrification of transport. Keep rolling.
Posted by: Sulleny | 17 September 2008 at 02:22 PM
Begin construction on the factory 'summer of 2009'.
First production 'late 2010'.
Ummmm. Yeah.
Posted by: curtis | 17 September 2008 at 03:43 PM
schwarznegger gave them a significant amount of money to stay in california, and the existing site was not made for expansion.
these guys are also all about brains, not about building cheap en masse. imho that's commendable.
Posted by: lensovet | 17 September 2008 at 04:23 PM
Curtis,
if you haven't seen it, it's hard to visualize but you can buy a whole building complete with fixtures, electrics, plumbing, H/C etc. in a package. I worked in one and it was delivered as tilt up walls and materials on site - seven months later we moved in.
Granted construction continued in other areas but we moved in and went to work. Building in a box. Contemporary industrial parks use them exclusively.
Posted by: gr | 17 September 2008 at 06:20 PM
They'll get there.
1) Tesla Roadster - demonstrate an actual production car in small volume (100s)
2) This car - move up production, move down price line - demonstrate modest volume production (1000s)
3) Next car - deploy demonstrated technology and production processes (from steps 1 & 2) in much higher volumes (10K to 100K units).
Great job Tesla
Posted by: shane | 17 September 2008 at 06:22 PM
If tesla can make a sedan for 60k that gets 240 empc then why can't one of the big auto makers make a sedan that get's 100 empc for less then half of that ? I don't see why toyota or nissan can't make a EV for around 20k to 25k that gets 100 to 120 empc, and if the government steps in we could see a $2500 to $5000 rebate towards them aswell.
They are either scared of the future and what it will mean to the auto industry or just plain stupid and will take us all down with them.
Posted by: | 18 September 2008 at 12:56 AM
Hang on... I gotta get in my morning hand wring.
Posted by: | 18 September 2008 at 09:43 AM
Go Tesla go! That said, I'll be very impressed if they actually get production models out by late 2010 (GM Volt delivery time as well)...seems an awful short time when Tesla is still putting the finishing touches on the production Roadster (final transmission etc.). They've got alot to do by 2010.
As for comments about cost for the production site, its a fair issue, however - this is isn't an everyday person's car, its aimed at people who buy Mercedes and BMW's and Tesla Roadster's. So, after the tax breaks, maybe the production siting cost won't be such a big deal here.
Posted by: Sasparilla | 18 September 2008 at 09:59 AM