Blog Tesla Considering Cybertruck Factory in Central U.S.

Tesla plans to build the Cybertruck at a new factory located in the central U.S., Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday.

The radically-designed all-electric pickup is slated for production in 2021, but it’s been unclear where Tesla will build the vehicle as it runs out of production capacity at its Fremont, Calif. location. There are reportedly more than 500,000 reservations for the Cybertruck.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1237531699681980416

Musk previously teased the possibility of a factory located in Texas.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1224926442527563776

But, since Musk says the company is “scouting,” it doesn’t seem Texas is a done deal. Following Tuesday’s tweet from Musk, several government officials from centrally-located states and municipalities replied with offers to meet with the CEO.

Oklahoma piled on with pleas from the Secretary of Commerce and the Cherokee Nation.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1237579318445793280

And, the Chamber of Commerce in Joplin, Mo. quickly offered land and incentives to bring Tesla to the Show Me State.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1237554823471349760

The middle of the country is certainly truck country. A big question for the Cybertruck has been if those blue collar pickup drivers will trade their F-150s and Silverados for an electric-powered hauler.

Delivering not only a better vehicle, but also local jobs, could be one of the best sales pitches to those resistant about an electric truck.

 

[LJS22]

It’s going to be Texas. They’ve been trying to get this done for years. It’s going to come down to the state relaxing it’s laws that prevent Tesla from selling to the consumer.

if Rick Perry was on board for this then any conservative will be.

 

[Qbenjamin]

Mind passing on the info for others who want to speak out?

I thought about that immediately after I hit send at the Congressman's website, but I unfortunately didn't copy what was sent. Ultimately, I expressed my dismay that my local area wasn't pitched as a possibility. While it would pale as a location in comparison to Austin (or the likes), it should still be pitched either way. I was very specific to the area that it would be possible in addition (acres of land available; housing availability/affordability; shopping; etc.).

 

[brucet999]

It’s going to be Texas. They’ve been trying to get this done for years. It’s going to come down to the state relaxing it’s laws that prevent Tesla from selling to the consumer.

if Rick Perry was on board for this then any conservative will be.

Tesla would be foolish to locate in Texas without a change in the law that prohibits them from selling there. Legislature won't meet again until January 2021, so best case start of construction of a Giga Texas would be April 2021, thus pushing production off into mid 2022.

 

[Unclenapolean]

Point taken, but 2021 technically runs through the next 21 months.

What you say about 2021 is true IF you stretch the schedule to the very last day of 2021. But Elon said that deliveries would START in late 2021, not the manufacturing. To meet that timeline, manufacturing would have to begin well before the last day of the year 2021. In my estimation the latest manufacturing could start, if optimum conditions existed, would be the beginning of December 2021 to meet a 2021 possible delivery date.

Keep in mind that it may have only taken 12 months for Tesla to build the Chinese plant, but China doesn't have the same regulatory hurdles that the US has when it comes to things like building a new manufacturing plant. Also, Tesla already had a successful plant up and running to model the China plant after, so they only needed to duplicate all the machinery and proven manufacturing processes the US plant had in place. For the Cyber Truck plant, because they're using the steel they are, not their usual aluminum, new manufacturing equipment will need to be designed, ordered, shipped, manufactured, tested, installed, the assembly line will need to be oriented to accommodate the equipment. Manufacturing processes will have to be created for the steel being used. Materials will need to be sourced, employees hired and trained and a lot of other moving parts will need to be organized. Remember, Elon had to shut down and re-design the Model 3 assembly line when he over automated the process and had problems, so this will be another "learn as you go" situation, which will slow things down.

I would be knocked on my butt if Tesla decided to build a new plant vs using an existing one. I don't see how they could start from scratch and still meet Elon's delivery announcement, but then Tesla has missed Elon's deadlines before.

 

[brucet999]

What you say about 2021 is true IF you stretch the schedule to the very last day of 2021. But Elon said that deliveries would START in late 2021, not the manufacturing. To meet that timeline, manufacturing would have to begin well before the last day of the year 2021. In my estimation the latest manufacturing could start, if optimum conditions existed, would be the beginning of December 2021 to meet a 2021 possible delivery date.

Keep in mind that it may have only taken 12 months for Tesla to build the Chinese plant, but China doesn't have the same regulatory hurdles that the US has when it comes to things like building a new manufacturing plant. Also, Tesla already had a successful plant up and running to model the China plant after, so they only needed to duplicate all the machinery and proven manufacturing processes the US plant had in place. For the Cyber Truck plant, because they're using the steel they are, not their usual aluminum, new manufacturing equipment will need to be designed, ordered, shipped, manufactured, tested, installed, the assembly line will need to be oriented to accommodate the equipment. Manufacturing processes will have to be created for the steel being used. Materials will need to be sourced, employees hired and trained and a lot of other moving parts will need to be organized. Remember, Elon had to shut down and re-design the Model 3 assembly line when he over automated the process and had problems, so this will be another "learn as you go" situation, which will slow things down.

I would be knocked on my butt if Tesla decided to build a new plant vs using an existing one. I don't see how they could start from scratch and still meet Elon's delivery announcement, but then Tesla has missed Elon's deadlines before.

Some of the items you mention, tooling design, raw materials sourcing, could be done while a new plant is still in planning phases, much less under construction or completed, but your point is well taken that taking over an existing factory would likely be faster than building new in the US, if only because all the needed public infrastructure would already be there.

 

[B-Razz]

"Big oil" in Texas needs to give way to Tesla!

 

[Qbenjamin]

What you say about 2021 is true IF you stretch the schedule to the very last day of 2021. But Elon said that deliveries would START in late 2021, not the manufacturing. To meet that timeline, manufacturing would have to begin well before the last day of the year 2021. In my estimation the latest manufacturing could start, if optimum conditions existed, would be the beginning of December 2021 to meet a 2021 possible delivery date.

Keep in mind that it may have only taken 12 months for Tesla to build the Chinese plant, but China doesn't have the same regulatory hurdles that the US has when it comes to things like building a new manufacturing plant. Also, Tesla already had a successful plant up and running to model the China plant after, so they only needed to duplicate all the machinery and proven manufacturing processes the US plant had in place. For the Cyber Truck plant, because they're using the steel they are, not their usual aluminum, new manufacturing equipment will need to be designed, ordered, shipped, manufactured, tested, installed, the assembly line will need to be oriented to accommodate the equipment. Manufacturing processes will have to be created for the steel being used. Materials will need to be sourced, employees hired and trained and a lot of other moving parts will need to be organized. Remember, Elon had to shut down and re-design the Model 3 assembly line when he over automated the process and had problems, so this will be another "learn as you go" situation, which will slow things down.

I would be knocked on my butt if Tesla decided to build a new plant vs using an existing one. I don't see how they could start from scratch and still meet Elon's delivery announcement, but then Tesla has missed Elon's deadlines before.

Elon time is dismal at best. He originally made a statement about vehicle MY deliveries being in late 2020 and next thing you know, deliveries began in Mar. I still have no faith in his timelines, I usually just say it'll be +/- 1 year.

 

[Hovscorpion1]

I’d say around Oct/Nov this year is when we should start to have a better picture of what we should expect. I would expect that by that time, we should know of any design changes (that meet street legal standards). Once were in 2021, it’s anyone’s guess.