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  #1  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2014, 1:35 PM
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??? Tesla Mega-factory

10 million square feet and $5 billion - all to build batteries. Only question is where...

Musk’s $5 Billion Tesla Gigafactory May Start Bidding War
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  #2  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2014, 7:38 PM
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That is crazy. Great news for USA's manufacturing.
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  #3  
Old Posted Feb 28, 2014, 12:35 AM
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After Arizona almost-made-it-to-law segregation bill, hopefully Elon tells them to pound sand.
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Old Posted Feb 28, 2014, 8:00 AM
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Hopefully in the company's home state. The San Joaquin Valley really needs the jobs and it's not far from the Bay Area either.
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Old Posted Feb 28, 2014, 10:29 AM
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Could they perhaps build in Generation Park?
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Old Posted Feb 28, 2014, 4:00 PM
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Mmmmm....... the resources needed to support this factory will be immense. Much raping of the earth will go into it. Mountain Pass might have found a new customer with minimal transportation costs. This could also spur development of some of the lithium deposits in the United States.
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Old Posted Feb 28, 2014, 5:09 PM
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Could they perhaps build in Generation Park?
I was thinking the old US Steel complex in Baytown. But a lot will depend on what kind of infrastructure support they'd need.

Some of those petrochemical plant expansions in the Houston area are going to approach $5 billion in investment, but those plants don't require many permanent employees.
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Old Posted Mar 1, 2014, 5:19 AM
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Interesting. Its exciting to watch Tesla grow so much and so fast, I really feel it has a very good chance to become really big. The $40k car is supposed to have a 350km range, roughly quadruple what the competition is currently offering. (or in the case of the Volt, 10x)
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Old Posted Mar 1, 2014, 6:39 PM
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thread is useless without pictures

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Old Posted Mar 2, 2014, 12:47 AM
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thread is useless without pictures
If one of the requirements is access to a solar farm or windmills, that will probably limit the number of sites that can be considered. They may favor a desert location, but then they have to figure where the labor force is coming from. I'm guessing either Phoenix or Las Vegas would be near the top of the list, but it may be possible to find 1,000 acres of flat land south of Dallas, east of Houston or somewhere near Denver.
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Old Posted Mar 2, 2014, 3:42 AM
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From what I have read, Reno is near the top of the list. It is conducive to renewable energy (high desert plains are good for wind and solar), has cheap land, is close enough to the Bay Area via I-80, and perhaps most importantly, is close to a lithium supplier.
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Old Posted Mar 3, 2014, 4:54 PM
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From what I have read, Reno is near the top of the list. It is conducive to renewable energy (high desert plains are good for wind and solar), has cheap land, is close enough to the Bay Area via I-80, and perhaps most importantly, is close to a lithium supplier.
Also consider rail lines. Reno has a direct connection to the Bay Area via Union Pacific's line which also would allow access to factories in the Midwest in a relatively direct manner. Phoenix and Las Vegas are nowhere near as well connected.
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Old Posted Mar 6, 2014, 2:16 PM
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Also consider rail lines. Reno has a direct connection to the Bay Area via Union Pacific's line which also would allow access to factories in the Midwest in a relatively direct manner.
I would imagine it's also not that difficult to extend California's HSR to Reno.
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Old Posted Mar 6, 2014, 3:36 PM
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The economic benefits of this plant cannot be understated. Modern factories operate under a Just-In-Time (JIT) supply chain model where raw materials arrive and are instantly consumed to make a final product (intermediate product if we're just talking about the batteries here) which are sent on down the supply chain almost immediately after. The idea is to maintain the least amount of inventory on hand and eliminate factory idle time.

In order to accomplish this the gigafactory will have to rely on a number of suppliers which will likely locate in close proximity to the new gigafactory. This will include steel, aluminum, copper, lithium and other raw materials suppliers.

I think Reno would be pretty high up on their list of possible locations. Their production lines are in Fremont, CA which is just a short rail-ride away. It'll be a HUGE boom to their economy.
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Old Posted Mar 6, 2014, 5:03 PM
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I would imagine it's also not that difficult to extend California's HSR to Reno.
Tesla doesn't give a shit about HSR for manufacturing. They are concerned with freight rail: the rail system that the US does absolutely right. From shipping battery packs to Fremont, CA to eventually distributing large-state storage for solar and wind projects it's imperative that Tesla's factory have excellent freight rail connections.
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Old Posted Apr 17, 2014, 3:47 PM
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The competition has narrowed. Or maybe it hasn't. Reno, Albuquerque, San Antonio and three sites in Arizona are considered to still be in the running. But the auto dealers are trying to monkey-wrench things by preventing Tesla from selling cars direct to customers in Arizona.

Texas still in the running for $5B Tesla factory

"...Tesla is looking at places such as Tucson, Pinal County and Buckeye in Arizona, Reno, Nev., Albuquerque, N.M., and San Antonio, Texas, for the 6,500-worker factory.

A number of site selection and real estate executives believe a site at the Reno Stead Airport in northern Nevada is the front runner to land the much coveted plant.

The company was unsuccessful in its bid to get the Arizona Legislature to change auto sales rules to allow Tesla to sell directly to consumers..."
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Old Posted Apr 18, 2014, 5:27 AM
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Would be great if Reno go the plant. The economy there could really use something more than the casino business that has been struggling for a while. Closest to Fremont too.
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Old Posted Apr 18, 2014, 8:49 PM
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I would rule out Arizona and Texas immediately. As long as their legislatures continue to do NADA's bidding, they're out. And they'll have to make a substantial commitment to sustainable practices to be considered, which I think is unlikely.
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Old Posted Apr 21, 2014, 3:08 PM
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Would be great if Reno go the plant. The economy there could really use something more than the casino business that has been struggling for a while. Closest to Fremont too.
Reno makes a ton of sense. Good rail connections and it's closer to the mining areas that this factory will be relying on for materials. Electricity is another concern. This plant will relying on a giga-ton of electrical power and solar and wind won't cut it.

Interesting that water doesn't play a factor. I guess the manufacturing process doesn't require large amounts.
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Old Posted May 9, 2014, 3:40 PM
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More news on this one. Tesla is close to a decision, and California may be a strong possibility.

As Tesla accelerates Gigafactory plans, California back in the running

..."We're going to move forward with breaking ground on multiple sites in order to minimize the risk of completion of the Gigafactory," CEO Elon Musk said during a call to discuss the company's first-quarter earnings. "We expect to break ground on the first of those probably next month. And then shortly thereafter, maybe a month or two after that, we'll break ground on the second one."
Tesla initially said it was evaluating 500- to 1,000-acre sites in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada as four potential locations for the factory, which will employ about 6,500 people. Now California is back on the short list.
"It's sort of still improbable, but it is back in the running," Musk said...
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