Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

California Tesla Sedan Factory: Where?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Where in the Bay Area will the Tesla Sedan factory be built?

Comments I've seen in the recent wave of articles include:

"Elon says it will be located near one of the bridges"
"The CA Sec of Labor said that a Hayward site was evaluated by Tesla and rejected"
"An Enterprise Zone would offer better government benefits"
"Two sites are currently under consideration"
"It will be located as close to the engineering staff as possible."
"It will be located where the 400 employees can afford to live".

It seems to me, a location near a port is best: better access to parts
and easier shipping of products to Asia/Europe. This is especially important
if the small Mercedes contract becomes a big one.

Are the two sites being considered public information?
 
We have seen a few articles about San Jose as a possible manufacturing site for Tesla. Is this because SJ is the leading contender for such a site, or because it is the only city which has said something publicly? I wonder if Tesla is unhappy with San Jose for saying something while negotiations go on elsewhere?

I did like finding out that Ze'ev at least drives around in a Roadster.

Yes, I have been wondering about that too. That Elon and Martin got early production numbers is well known. Where does Ze'ev fit in on the list? Has he ordered one of his own, or does he just plan to permanently drive around one of the company VPs. If he did get in line, does his place jump ahead of others, or will he be getting a 2009 model instead?
 
Last edited:
San Jose in talks with Tesla for electric-car plant - San Jose Mercury News

...
City officials and Tesla executives confirmed Thursday [yesterday] that San Jose is on the short list of Bay Area locations for the factory that will build the silent-running, zero-emission electric cars.

That list also includes Vacaville and South San Francisco, said Darryl Siry, a Tesla senior vice president.

"There are discussions," he said. "There is no deal."
...
City officials have taken Tesla executives on a tour of several sites in San Jose, including land adjacent to the San Jose Water Pollution Control Plant north of Highway 237 and west of Interstate 880 near Zanker Road. While the other possible sites in San Jose are on private property, the water plant is public land, which is why it's mentioned in city documents. Krutko wouldn't disclose the location of the other possible factory sites.
...

Privately, Tesla officials said they hope to make a decision soon, perhaps by month's end.
I don't think Vacaville is still considered the Bay Area. Would take about 1.5 hours to get there with no traffic. It's conveniently close to Napa, though.:wink:

The spot next to the San Jose Water Pollution Control Plant is a good location. Only about 30 minutes on the highway from San Carlos and only 20 minutes to the airport.
The land in question is at the top-left of this picture:
San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
1792906510_386221f4d8.jpg

It might be kinda stinky there, though. I used to work at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, DC. The base was situated right next to Blue Plains Waste Treatment Plant, and boy did that place reek.
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
Can someone explain to me why the mfr'ing of the battery packs was moved from Thailand to San Carlos? Is is the weak American dollar abroad, which lessens the advantage of "cheap" mfr costs in 3rd world countries like China/Mexico/Thailand/Phillipines? I know there was the issue of convenience, avoiding shipping costs from Thailand to San Carlos.

I was always surprised that TM management decided on US based mfr'ing. It sounded more like Nationalism, than economics. Personally, I vote for China. I was just at SIGGRAPH 2008, & my ex grad-school UIUC/Coordinated Scinec Laboratory/AARG officemate (Dr. Homer Chen/NTU/National Taiwan Univ, same generation as Martin), made the comment that Dell was a "service company". People think of Dell as a hardware mfr'ing company, but in fact they just contract Taiwanese companies to build PCs to their specs. Similarly, could TM in the future be just a "service company", & contract out engineering services from mainland China & Taiwan? The AC Induction motor is made in Taiwan. BTW, another UIUC/CSL/AARG alumni is Bill Ho, whose dad was the head of the Technology Park in Taiwan. This is a contact which could be exploited, for any future "sweet deals" with Taiwanese contractors.

[ by this time, you might get the impression that UIUC attracts a LOT of top talent. Martin included. Another alumni of our lab is S. Blostein (we had the same PhD advisor), whose dad was the director of Bell Northern Research..the Bell Labs of Canada. He is now EE prof at Queens Univ/Canada, aka "Harvard of the North". Some trivia: this is the university where Elon Musk met his wife ]


I was recently in China (for the 8/1 solar eclipse). Man, was that an enlightening experience. There were cars (of every conceivable make..Nissan, Honda, Jeep, VW, Audi). There are lots of people getting wealthy, so this is a potential big market for TM.

Get this, tons of electric bicycles & scooters! As I was driving to my hotel, after arriving in Beijing, I was met with a wave of silent bicycles..yep, electric power!! I mean, you just don't see that here in USA/Canada. There are some US & Canada companies importing Chinese made electric-hubs, & selling them to American hobbyists to electrify their bikes.

I was out in Hami/China (NW China, near Mongolian border), & the local GIANT bicycle shop had a whole selection of GIANT electric bikes:

7/29 Hami, shopping for camping supplies - a set on Flickr

They are not found in mass quantities in USA (just a few), but highly regarded by knowledgable US e-centric buyers.


I think TM should explore the China market pretty quick. Many US companies are over there, because of the business potential: the sheer mass quantity of consumers. Yeah, I ate at McDonalds & KFC over there (grudgingly).
 
Last edited:
Can someone explain to me why the mfr'ing of the battery packs was moved from Thailand to San Carlos? Is is the weak American dollar abroad, which lessens the advantage of "cheap" mfr costs in 3rd world countries like China/Mexico/Thailand/Phillipines? I know there was the issue of convenience, avoiding shipping costs from Thailand to San Carlos.

You have the answers in your question. They have stated that the transportation costs and the lag time of holding up their inventory for so long on a ship from Thailand canceled the advantages of doing it there. The decline of the U.S. dollar helps but was not the main reason. They did not want their key inventory part tied up for months on a ship.
 
You have the answers in your question. They have stated that the transportation costs and the lag time of holding up their inventory for so long on a ship from Thailand canceled the advantages of doing it there. The decline of the U.S. dollar helps but was not the main reason. They did not want their key inventory part tied up for months on a ship.

I'm reminded of what "Finkenbusch" (?, the TMC poster from Austria) said:

"logistics, logistics, logistics is the key"

I'm thinking there could be a Chinese mfr'ing factory, JUST for the Chinese market. I happened to buy a Dahon folding mountain bike at the GIANT dealership in Hami/China ($280, a beauty!). On it, it says "Chinese Domestic version" which has different components than the version sold in USA (called the "Jack").

I think TM should investigate a partnership with a Chinese entity. There could be crossover engineering information transfer. I dabble in custom built PCs (aka PC *sugar*-box solutions), & practically all the mother board mfrs are Taiwan-based. I've heard glowing reports on the ability of Taiwanese engineers. Obviously, mainland China is learning fast & making a big move. I think it would behoove TM to find a Chinese partner to exploit the Chinese market. Not only would it give them HUGE revenue potential, it would give them some potential Technology Transfer benefits, in the long-run.

My in-laws are wealthy entrepeneurs in Australia, Viet Nam, China. One of their Beijing hotels was being used to host some dignitaries at the Olympics. The guy in question (my aunt's husband) is a UIUC Mechanical Eng PhD. Obviously, he might have an interest in something entrepeneurial, that is automotive related.
 
Tesla to build electric-car factory in San Jose

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10481210


Tesla Motors and San Jose will announce today that the city has been tapped as the future home for the electric-car maker's factory and new headquarters.
Both will be located on about 90 acres of land adjacent to the water-treatment plant off Zanker Road near Highway 237 in North San Jose. That property is jointly owned by San Jose and Santa Clara, whose city councils still need to approve the terms of the deal.
 
Last edited:
Not surprising that the plant ended up in San Jose. There was basically no talk about the other potential locations.

Quick press round-up:

Tesla Motors’s Second Electric Car Will Be Made in San Jose - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Tesla Motors Plans New Factory, Financing for Expansion - WSJ.com

The Associated Press: Tesla Motors to build electric sedan in California

Tesla plans Silicon Valley electric car factory | Environment | Reuters

Tesla Motors to site its manufacturing plant in San Jose VentureBeat

ALeqM5hbZ3LtnUdPvnBgYKaXaPW1UaspCw