Currently, there is a bidding war between the states to be the host of the new Tesla Gigafactory. The primary contenders to snatch up the pivotal site for the up-and-coming company are California, Nevada, and like always Texas.
Originally, it appeared that California would be the shoe-in destination, but high taxes and other circumstances may just be enough to turn the company away.
John Boyd of The Boyd Co. says in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, “The wild card in this sweepstakes are the incentive packages being crafted behind closed doors.”
“I think Reno is the front-runner, but Texas is very much in the hunt, and I’d put California third. But at this point, groundbreaking has not taken place in any of the other strong candidate sites like Tucson, San Antonio or Dallas.”
But why exactly is there all of this hype for the new Gigafactory?
Well, to start, the planned $5 billion factory would be the go-to center for the batteries needed in Tesla’s electric vehicles. This would have an immediate impact on the local economy, infusing the area with 6,500 jobs.
Jakki Mohr, a professor at the University of Montana, recently commented in an interview with The Globe about the potential economic the factory would have. She said, “When you think about the way that would be allocated in terms of the building, the equipment, the employees, the transportation… anything of that magnitude defies my comprehension when you have that many zeroes behind that number.”
But what might be even more valuable than the immediate impact on an area’s economy is the potential for the future. Right now, Tesla is on the cusp of an auto revolution. Their technology has influenced an entire industry, with every major manufacturer now working to catch up in the electric car race.
Even more importantly…
With Tesla’s expansion into battery manufacturing, they have cemented themselves as the permanent leader for electric vehicles. IN fact, Tesla’s website tells us that their new Gigafactory will produce more lithium-ion batteries annually by 2020 than were produced by the entire world in 2013! Also stated on the website, “By the end of the first year of volume production of our mass market vehicle, we expect the Gigafactory will have driven down the per kWh cost of our battery pack by more than 30 percent.”
This means that other companies will have to come to them to buy batteries because they will be creating products that are cheaper than anywhere else on the market.
That’s enough power to put them at the top of the ultra-competitive automotive industry. It will help them to create an entirely new automotive culture, a new industry, and a new homeland that is filled of riches (think of the old Detroit). All Tesla has to do now is decide where they want to set up base.
4Wheel Online Blog - Automotive News 