Tesla will build its new Gigafactory near Austin, Texas, Chief Executive Elon Musk announced during the company’s earnings call on Wednesday.
The area occupies approximately 2,000 acres and will be approximately 15 minutes from downtown Austin, Musk said. He said the factory will be an “ecological paradise” and that it will be open to the public.
“We’re going to turn it into a factory that’s going to be awesome, it’s right on the Colorado River. So we’re actually going to have to have a boardwalk over you, hiking, bike trail. It’s basically going to be an eco-friendly paradise activity,” said Musk.
The site will be used to build the company’s Cybertruck, its Semi, and Model 3 and Model Y for the eastern half of North America, Musk said.
Musk also added that Tesla will continue to grow in California, where he will build the Tesla Model S and Model X for global deliveries and Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y for North America.
Travis County, where the new auto plant will reside, voted earlier this month to grant Tesla minimum tax exemptions of $ 14.7 million to build the plant and bring jobs to the area. Tesla employs about 10,000 people at its only US auto plant today in Fremont, California.
“Texas has the best workforce in the nation and we have created an economic environment that allows companies like Tesla to innovate and succeed,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said after the announcement.
“Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas will maintain the strongest Texas economy in the nation and create thousands of jobs for working Texans. I look forward to the tremendous benefits that Tesla’s investment will bring to Central Texas and the entire state.”
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