Area Development
Tesla Motors Inc., a manufacturer of electric vehicles, will invest approximately $250 million to build a combination headquarters, manufacturing, and R&D facility in San Jose, California. More than 1,000 jobs will be created at full operations. Company officials say that the new facility will be used to manufacture a zero-emission luxury sedan that will be powered by a lithium-ion battery pack and will sell for a base price of approximately $60,000. The first cars are expected off the assembly line at the facility in late 2010. At the same time, Tesla will relocate its company headquarters from its current location in San Carlos, California, which is within 20 miles of the new site. "Locating Tesla's headquarters, manufacturing, and R&D in San Jose will allow us to proceed with minimum disruptions and virtually no dislocations to employees," says Ze'ev Drori, the company's president and CEO. He cites the city's concentration of highly skilled engineers, its support infrastructure, and "Green Vision" job creation initiative as additional reasons for the choice. The company will seek LEED certification for the new facility. No details about financial incentives for Tesla were released.