California Tesla Sedan Factory: Where?

[SByer]

I didn't say "poor", which implies a serious reliability issue, but "not very good at it", which wraps in the things that the auto makers don't yet have under control - cost, functionality.

I'm also not fond of when JD Powers uses "quality" as a synonym for "reliability", which is what they're really measuring. Reliability is only one aspect of quality. Yes, Ford now builds some of the more reliable cars on the road. But they're doing it at a higher cost than what it really should be. And, except for some very recent models, with lower functionality and performance than comparable autos from elsewhere around the world.

So, while Ford has been the one less-dim spot of the big three, I would still assert when taken as a whole, over the past 10 years, the track record of car manufacturing in America is not very good.

 

[vfx]

One cannot underestimate the image Tesla want to portray with their brand. Being and being made in SV is part of their Unique Selling Proposition.

 

[dpeilow]

This is a much more level-headed story (although it does included the $60k / 240 miles Model S line).

AFP: Tesla shifts electric sedan site to win US government loan

 

[doug]

AFP: Tesla shifts electric sedan site to win US government loan

So they already have another location in mind?

"We cannot do anything that may jeopardize securing the federal loan," said Tesla senior communications manager Rachel Konrad.
"That's one of the reasons we are now planning to develop on a brownfield site instead of the greenfield site in San Jose."
Tesla is in "late-stage" negotiations with another site for its Model S sedan plant and expects to begin production in 2011 as originally planned, according to Konrad.

 

[dpeilow]

Tesla Seeking Federal Loan to Build Model S on Brownfields : Red, Green, and Blue

 

[doug]

Tesla in 'late-stage' talks on new factory site - San Francisco Business Times:

Tesla Motors Inc. said on Tuesday that it is in "late-stage" negotiations for an undisclosed site to build its Model S sedan.

A statement from the San Carlos company didn't disclose the new site but said an announcement would come soon.
...
A spokeswoman said Tesla has been approached by numerous commercial real estate developers with potential sites since last week.

 

[dpeilow]

Good. I hope something workable is coming together and all those stories that made 2+2=5 last week are proved wrong.

 

[graham]

Yes, and I hope the site is still in California so that they can take advantage of both the federal dollars as well as the State of California dollars too.

(Assuming, of course, that California fixes the budget enough to be able to start paying these things...)

 

[Lancelac]

It does make sense to repurpose a factory in this economy where there will be loads of empty ones.

 

[vfx]

(Assuming, of course, that California fixes the budget enough to be able to start paying these things...)

IOU Arnold Bucks coming.

It does make sense to repurpose a factory in this economy where there will be loads of empty ones.

Or is it better to put construction companies to work?

 

[SByer]

It does make sense to repurpose a factory in this economy where there will be loads of empty ones.

Not necessarily. Though, I suppose, for the kinds of assembly buildings we're talking about, there wouldn't be so much interior that needs re-configuring. Where you can get into trouble is where there are impedance mis-matches between old and new purposes - how much parking, where in town it's located, proximity of mass transit or shipping.

Hopefully, that's all being taken into account.

 

[graham]

Hopefully. Sometimes it takes more work to refurbish than to build from scratch. Let's hope wherever they end up that it will be because it is better/cheaper/faster to rebuild there and not in a place that is tons more bother and cost because of a checkmark on a loan application.

Edit to add: Ah... SByer just said the same thing, only better.

 

[dpeilow]

Brownfield doesn't necessarily mean reuse an existing building - the site could have already been cleared or they could clear it and put up a new building.

 

[doug]

KLIV - TESLA TO ANNOUNCE NEW PLANT LOCATION

A proposed electric car plant for the Bay Area may not find a new location in San Jose. Tesla Motors is expected to make an announcement soon where it will put its new manufacturing operations for its Model S sedan.

 

[vfx]

KLIV - TESLA TO ANNOUNCE NEW PLANT LOCATION

That's the way non bias way news should be reported.

(though it could be interpreted as Press Release transcribing throughput.)

 

[doug]

I saw this a couple weeks ago. I didn't pass it on since I figured it was another naysayer trying to start rumors, but maybe he was onto something.
Watch Dog Silicon Valley: The Tesla Chronicles: Tesla plans "abandoned" in San Jose...

Word made it around the Mayor's State of the City yesterday that Tesla's plans may already be dead. According to spies, someone with direct knowledge of Tesla's plans for San Jose was describing how the plans for the 650,000 square foot assembly plant for San Jose have been "abandoned"...

Looks like these guys are saying "told you so."

News & Culture in Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley News Notes

Watch Dog's Tesla Scoop

When the Merc, KCBS and the Business Journal reported last week that Tesla had shifted gears and reversed direction, and might not be building a plant in San Jose after all, it was old news to readers of Watch Dog Silicon Valley. The upstart anonymous blog has been following serial entrepreneur Elon Musk's upstart electric car company closely for some time, in a series titled "The Tesla Chronicles." On Jan. 15, Watch Dog posted a piece headlined: Tesla Plans "Abandoned" in San Jose. The quotation marks in the headline are intentional—Watch Dog attributed the information to his/her "spies" in City Hall. In a slightly self-congratulatory follow-up post yesterday, humbly headlined "We Told You So," Watch Dog gently chided Mayor Chuck Reed's press secretary, Michelle McGurk, who told the Merc that the city is still "scurrying" to find new sites in San Jose: "If Ms. McGurk had just read Watch Dog earlier, she would have known the Tesla deal was in trouble and the City wouldn't have to scurry so much. ..."

Watch Dog Silicon Valley: Tesla Chronicles: We Told You So Edition...UPDATED AT 8:46 PM

Watch Dog Silicon Valley: Watch Dog correction on Tesla...

 

[SByer]

That last link (with Rachel's letter) seems to be pretty key - and probably should be cross-linked in from the "$100 million" thread. It pretty much jibes with what I thought I understood after the town hall - that yes, Tesla wasn't able to fully finance the factory directly, that the current funding rounds were to "boot up" into the government loan programs, and that it was in closing that round of financing that the re-pricing got shaken loose from.

And kudos to WDSV for putting the letter up intact.

 

[doug]

Still no real news on this, but here's an update of what we already know:

KLIV - TESLA MOTORS HOPES TO PUT HQ IN SILICON VALLEY

Although it may not be building a new electric car manufacturing plant in San Jose, Telsa Motors is still looking to set up shop in Silicon Valley. A spokesperson says the company is in late stage negotiations to locate its new headquarters in Silicon Valley.

Tesla Senior Communications Manger Rachel Konrad says the company has outgrown its current location, which is scattered across several buildings in a San Carlos industrial area. In addtion to the headquarters, the company's research and development staff will also be located at the unidentified Silicon Valley site.

Konrad could not provide specifics about where the new site would be located because the negotiations are still in progress.

 

[doug]

Haven't heard anything yet, but I'd suspect that Tesla will want to have a deal in hand and make an announcement before the Model S unveiling on March 26.

Before the Zanker Road site was selected, Tesla was said to be also considering Vacaville and South San Francisco. Perhaps either or both of those sites are back on the table.

This article reports how the city of Vallejo is actively trying to court Tesla into setting up at Mare Island:

Officials hope Tesla will provide 'green' -- in cash and cars - Vallejo Times Herald

Mike Ammann, president of Solano Economic Development Corp. in Fairfield, would hardly be surprised if Tesla Motors officials were again eyeing Mare Island as a possible site to develop.

He said Tesla, while considering Vacaville and San Jose, had previously scouted the former naval shipyard, with its dozens of airplane hangar-sized buildings, as a possible place to set up a manufacturing facility.

Ammann said details of the Obama administration's Economic Recovery Act, which the president wants to sign today, will factor into the company's decision to locate at Mare Island -- or at another abandoned military base in California, such as Alameda Naval Air Station in Alameda or Castle Air Force Base in Atwater.

This guy is hoping they'll pick Alameda, which incidentally is where I originally thought they'd end up: An open letter to Tesla Blogging - Bayport Alameda

Wait and see, I guess.

 

[graham]

I have previously read statements from Tesla stating that they were in talks to stay in Silicon Valley. It is possible that they meant "Silicon Valley" as a synonym for "SF Bay Area" or "Northern California" even. But Mare Island, Vacaville and Alameda are not Silicon Valley -- Perhaps SV is just wishful thinking on their part? Or perhaps they just mean that Mare Island is more Silicon Valley than Detroit.