"California positively gets a negative from Tesla on battery factory"
-Los Angeles Times
by Jerry Hirsch
The world has slowly fallen in love with the new Palo Alto electric car, Tesla Motors. The vehicle has been turning heads and emptying pockets since last year, when it first became popular. Californians bought more than a third of Teslas sold globally last year. California pollution-control policies enable Tesla to take in millions of dollars each year from selling environmental credits to their automakers. However, Tesla is not returning any love back to the Californians. On the motor company's hunt for the perfect location to build a four billion to five billion dollar battery factory that will employ six thousand five hundred people, Tesla is turning its head the other way. The automaker is looking for land that is about five hundred to a thousand acres in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and New Mexico. Although the exact locations have not yet been decided, California is not even in the running. The company has refused to give reasons as to why. States officials are also keeping their lips sealed. The only piece of information given was that Governor Jerry Brown had presented a proposal to the company with multiple factory sites, but the automakers simply refused. Costs and politics are the two main reasons to why Tesla is not budging on its decision. Land prices and wages are more expensive than any other region they are looking for, and for that reason, they are out.
March 9, 2014
Business is business; Tesla Motors has no reason or obligation to build this billion dollar battery factory in California. Although it would be nice to have Tesla Motors set their new battery factory in California, where thousands of jobs would be available for Californians, it is reasonable not to do so if not profitable.
ReplyDeleteDespite Californians love for Tesla, the love is clearly not returned. Why would Tesla buy land in California for their factory site when they can find cheaper land elsewhere? Tesla Motors has already benefited from Californians purchasing their product. If the land was priced more reasonably, it would give many Californians jobs in the factory, which can help boost our economy! Perhaps California needs to compromise and think about the future benefits. Fantastic topic.
ReplyDeleteIt is completely understandable why Tesla Motors does not accept one of the Californian factories as its own, they are simply trying to do what is best for the business. If the company can get land and built factories for cheaper somewhere else, why on earth would they buy the more expensive one? California is known for being the flashy state and is infamous for having show-off people, who tend to have flashy and expensive cars. So California might provide a good customer rate, but I still do not think it would be wise to buy land so overpriced. Interesting read, good work Ridul.
ReplyDeleteTesla Motors create one stunning machine. The way that the vehicle has been designed is truly phenomenal, they have mastered the car. This business has become a very large one. For them to turn down the offer is completely reasonable. They can choose where they want to build their factory. Even though it would be a good thing for California to house this battery factory, it is a tough deal to negotiate. It is economical for the company to purchase the land in another state where it would be much cheaper than to build the factory in California, even though California could offer many benefits.
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