Texas Among Finalists For New Tesla Factory
AUSTIN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Austin, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are the finalists for Tesla's newest U.S. assembly plant, a person briefed on the matter said Friday.
The person says company officials visited Tulsa in the past week and were shown two sites. The person didn't want to be identified because the site selection process is secret.
It wasn't clear if there were any other finalists in the mix.
The electric car maker has said it wants the factory to be in the center of the country and closer to East Coast markets.
The stakes are high for state and local governments. Tesla has said the plant will be larger than its factory in Fremont, California, which employs 10,000 workers.
Companies typically play finalists against each other in order to get the best package of tax breaks and other incentives.
Over the last week, CEO Elon Musk has been at odds with California officials as the Fremont factory was forced to close due to stay-at-home orders. Last weekend, he threatened to move the company's headquarters to Texas or Nevada.
Officials eventually gave him the go-ahead to reopen his factory next week.
However, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price took notice and gave their pitches to Musk through Twitter about having Tesla operations in their respective cities.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)