Chattanooga is a thriving city which boasts about being the first "Gig City" with an exponentially growing Tech influence. It also has multiple billboards dispersed throughout the city trying to really drive it home.
One would think this would be the perfect environment for a Tesla Service Center, right? Despite this, the closest TN service center from Chattanooga is appr. 140 miles away (Brentwood, TN)!
However, you are forgetting the elephant in the room, VOLKSWAGEN, which in 2011 was Certified as LEED Platinum, which no other factory has ever obtained.
Reference Article from Autoblog Green: AutoblogGreen
Here is a small snippet from the article:
In December 2011, the Volkswagen plant near Chattanooga, TN was certified LEED Platinum. That's a difficult level to reach - as we described at the time - but the one billion dollars the company spent there fit snugly into the VW corporate storyline: we're going to make cleaner cars at cleaner plants. We're going to reduce CO2 emissions by 30 percent (between 2006 and 2015). We're going to make sure our production facilities are 25 percent more "environmentally compatible." We're going to Think Blue.
Well, we all now know the truth behind Volkswagen's claims now. But have they lost their LEED Platinum status? Not that I can see from my research.
So, now this should open up more of an opportunity for Tesla in Chattanooga, but no, more issues arise. Volkswagen of Chattanooga was proud about not being Union, but on Dec 7th, 2015, it was Unionized. So now, we get an article from Bloomberg on May 26th, 2016, laying out how Tesla is now a Union target for Chattanooga Union workers (Tesla is not Unionized).
Reference Article from Bloomberg: Bubbling Discontent Makes Tesla a Union Target
Here is a small snippet from the article:
As the only U.S.-based automaker without a UAW-represented workforce -- and as the occupant of a former UAW-represented plant -- Tesla has been on the union's radar for some time. In the past, Tesla's tiny startup scale and theUAW's focus on organizing Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant kept a confrontation on the back burner.
But with Tesla moving toward half a million units of production per year, and in the wake ofaccusations that it pays foreign visa holders as little as $5 per hour, the electric car maker is being watched very closely by the union, UAW President Dennis Williams said last week. "We just believe workers ought to have a voice in the workplace, and they ought to have collective bargaining rights."
Finally, here is another reason why Volkswagen, which has a huge influence in a relatively small city like Chattanooga can do no wrong and actually gains from their mistakes...
On Feb 22nd, 2016 there is an Investopedia article about how the EPA has basically given a wink and nod to Volkswagen by asking them to manufacture electric cars in the U.S. to make up for the German manufacturer rigging emission figures for its cars which will be accomplished in guess where? Answer: Chattanooga, TN.
So now, even though Volkswagen should have a much deserved punishment for their actions, they have once again turned it into a gain in good ole Chattanooga, TN.
Reference Article from Investopedia: Volkswagen Looks to Join the US Electric Car Market
Here is a small snippet from the article:
The company is also making aggressive moves to claim a share in the United States' nascent electric car market. After being introduced in 2014, Volkswagen's e-Golf sales also rose steadily last year. The car's pricing is attractive for middle class consumers and competes directly with Nissan's Leaf and General Motors' Chevy Volt. This is unlike Tesla, which expects to release the Model 3, an affordable version of its premium car, in 2017.
Now I know when the prospects for Chattanooga, TN ever getting a Tesla Service Center are not too promising and it does sadden me. After research, this also seems to be a belligerent slap in the face to Tesla.
One would think this would be the perfect environment for a Tesla Service Center, right? Despite this, the closest TN service center from Chattanooga is appr. 140 miles away (Brentwood, TN)!
However, you are forgetting the elephant in the room, VOLKSWAGEN, which in 2011 was Certified as LEED Platinum, which no other factory has ever obtained.
Reference Article from Autoblog Green: AutoblogGreen
Here is a small snippet from the article:
In December 2011, the Volkswagen plant near Chattanooga, TN was certified LEED Platinum. That's a difficult level to reach - as we described at the time - but the one billion dollars the company spent there fit snugly into the VW corporate storyline: we're going to make cleaner cars at cleaner plants. We're going to reduce CO2 emissions by 30 percent (between 2006 and 2015). We're going to make sure our production facilities are 25 percent more "environmentally compatible." We're going to Think Blue.
Well, we all now know the truth behind Volkswagen's claims now. But have they lost their LEED Platinum status? Not that I can see from my research.
So, now this should open up more of an opportunity for Tesla in Chattanooga, but no, more issues arise. Volkswagen of Chattanooga was proud about not being Union, but on Dec 7th, 2015, it was Unionized. So now, we get an article from Bloomberg on May 26th, 2016, laying out how Tesla is now a Union target for Chattanooga Union workers (Tesla is not Unionized).
Reference Article from Bloomberg: Bubbling Discontent Makes Tesla a Union Target
Here is a small snippet from the article:
As the only U.S.-based automaker without a UAW-represented workforce -- and as the occupant of a former UAW-represented plant -- Tesla has been on the union's radar for some time. In the past, Tesla's tiny startup scale and theUAW's focus on organizing Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant kept a confrontation on the back burner.
But with Tesla moving toward half a million units of production per year, and in the wake ofaccusations that it pays foreign visa holders as little as $5 per hour, the electric car maker is being watched very closely by the union, UAW President Dennis Williams said last week. "We just believe workers ought to have a voice in the workplace, and they ought to have collective bargaining rights."
Finally, here is another reason why Volkswagen, which has a huge influence in a relatively small city like Chattanooga can do no wrong and actually gains from their mistakes...
On Feb 22nd, 2016 there is an Investopedia article about how the EPA has basically given a wink and nod to Volkswagen by asking them to manufacture electric cars in the U.S. to make up for the German manufacturer rigging emission figures for its cars which will be accomplished in guess where? Answer: Chattanooga, TN.
So now, even though Volkswagen should have a much deserved punishment for their actions, they have once again turned it into a gain in good ole Chattanooga, TN.
Reference Article from Investopedia: Volkswagen Looks to Join the US Electric Car Market
Here is a small snippet from the article:
The company is also making aggressive moves to claim a share in the United States' nascent electric car market. After being introduced in 2014, Volkswagen's e-Golf sales also rose steadily last year. The car's pricing is attractive for middle class consumers and competes directly with Nissan's Leaf and General Motors' Chevy Volt. This is unlike Tesla, which expects to release the Model 3, an affordable version of its premium car, in 2017.
Now I know when the prospects for Chattanooga, TN ever getting a Tesla Service Center are not too promising and it does sadden me. After research, this also seems to be a belligerent slap in the face to Tesla.
