TOPLINE
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that the electric car company’s next factory will be built in Austin, Texas.
Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk gestures when introducing the new all-electric model. … [+]
KEY FACTS
In Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call, Musk said the factory will manufacture its Cybertruck, semi-truck, Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
Musk said the plant will be located 15 minutes from downtown Austin and will be an “eco-paradise” open to the public with a boardwalk and hiking and biking trails.
Tulsa, Oklahoma was also competing for the Gigafactory.
Local officials in Travis County voted earlier this month to grant Tesla a minimum of $ 14 million in tax exemptions over the next decade if it brings the $ 1.1 billion factory to Texas, according to CNBC, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott hailed the move as “a cornerstone for next-generation innovation” that will employ “thousands.”
Tesla has said it will hire 5,000 workers and pay them a minimum of $ 15 an hour.
Crucial quote
“We are going to turn it into a factory that is going to be impressive,” he said. “It is right on the Colorado River. So we are actually going to have a boardwalk where there will be a hiking and biking trail. Basically it will be an ecological paradise, birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream. And it will also be open to the public, so it will not be closed and only open to Tesla, ”Musk said in the earnings call.
Critical boss
Some in the area are skeptical that such a large company receives so many tax subsidies, especially one with a questionable record on worker safety. Nathan Jensen, professor at the Government Department of the University of Texas Austin, told the Austin American statesman that Tesla’s tax incentives are “a bad investment of taxpayers’ money as small businesses close in our community” as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Key background
Tesla has had a record year so far and is the most valuable car company in the world. It has now posted a profit for four consecutive quarters and its share price has increased since March. Tesla’s earnings have brought Musk’s net worth to more than $ 74 billion, making him the fifth-richest person in the world, according to Forbes. Analysts at Morgan Stanley warned last month that Tesla’s shares, which were trading at approximately $ 1,000 a share at the time, were “overvalued and sank.”
