Tesla is eyeing the southeast Austin, Texas area for its second U.S. auto factory, which would produce its new pickup truck.
The company filed an application with Austin-area Del Valle School District in Travis County seeking a tax abatement, according to publicly filed documents. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in March that he had begun scouting for sites to produce the Cybertruck, which is in development, and the Model Y crossover for customers on the East Coast.
The 2,100-acre site under consideration currently is a ready-mix concrete facility owned by Martin Marietta Materials. Construction on Tesla’s plant is expected to start later this year, pending required approvals.
This would be Tesla’s fourth vehicle assembly plant — currently with plants in Fremont, California; Shanghai, China and Berlin, Germany. The Texas facility is expected to employ approximately 5,000 workers when fully operational.
“The current focus is on Oklahoma and Texas as potential locations,” the filing stated. Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce Sean Kouplen has said that his state has developed a responsible performance-based incentives package to attract Tesla to Oklahoma.
Tesla unveiled its Cybertruck prototype in November, pitching it as radically different from vehicles made by other OEMs. The Cybertruck is designed to have the utility of a truck and the performance of a sports car. It will come in three variants: single motor rear-wheel drive, dual motor all-wheel drive and tri motor all-wheel drive. It is expected to have a 500+ mile range and a towing capacity of more than 14,000 pounds. It is to have an ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled stainless steel body and a seating capacity of up to six adults. It can be charged at home, at Destination Charging locations and with Tesla’s network of more than 16,000 Superchargers, including its newest V3 technology.
