Tesla Motors to Open New Factory and HQ, Plans Sedan Production

To compliment a an all-electric, zero-emission sedan announced in June, Tesla announced that it would be building a $250 million dollar factory north of San Jose, Calif. The electric auto maker is also relocating its headquarters and R&D efforts onto a consolidated campus to the city.

According to Tesla President and CEO Ze’ev Drori, the move from San Carlos to San Jose has a lot to do with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. "Big deals like this happen when both parties have something significant to gain,” said Drori, who praised [Reed’s]15-year “Green Vision” job-creation initiative. “Locating Tesla’s headquarters, manufacturing and R&D in San Jose will allow us to proceed with minimum disruptions and virtually no dislocations.”

The new factory will be located on 89 acres of land north of San Jose, and is expected to be certified gold by U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED. Also, according to Engadget, the first ten years of the 40 year lease on the factory’s land is "rent free", which should certainly help cash flow for the car maker. About 1,000 jobs are expected to be created by the new factory, which will exclusively make the sedans, leaving the Roadster production in the U.K. On top of the favorable lease, California is also "...stepping in to provide a sweet tax-free rent-to-buy deal on the factory equipment..."

The new sedan being launched by Tesla is the luxury S sedan. This $60,000 (base price), all-electric sedan will get over 240 miles per charge with "exceptional performance," and is expected to compete with the BMW 5-Series and the Mercedes-Benz E Class. Tesla’s Product Architect and Chairman Elon Musk seems pretty excited about the new offering. “Tesla has amazing momentum right now. The excitement within the company is palpable...The company has clearly taken production of all-electric vehicles to the next level, and the Model S assembly plant will dramatically accelerate our growth."

The Tesla Roadster, which goes from 0-60 in under four seconds, redlines at 14,000rpm, and still manages to get over 240 miles per charge, is most famous for it’s gearbox. The one-speed gearbox offers all 280 lb-ft of torque from 0rpm, making the driving experience unlike anything else on the road.