Tesla plans to build a $1.1 billion auto assembly plant in Travis County outside Austin.
There’s no word on whether Elon Musk is paying in Bitcoin, but the factory will be one of the largest economic development projects in Austin’s history, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
The factory is planned on 2,100 acres “five minutes from {Austin-Bergstrom International Airport], Musk said during a call with Wall Street analysts. He added that the property will be open to the public.
“It is right on the Colorado River,” he said. “So we are actually going to have a boardwalk where there will be a hike and biking trail. It is basically going to be an ecological paradise — birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream.”
Musk hinted at a new Texas “gigafactory” in February on Twitter, but didn’t elaborate much on details.
Tesla previously announced a planned groundbreaking for the Austin factory in the third quarter, but Musk said this week that work started over the weekend. Tesla expects to employ 5,000 people at the factory with wages starting at $35,000 per year including benefits. They’ll be assembling the Cybertruck, a retro-futuristic pickup announced by Tesla last fall, and the Model Y SUV.
Texas’ state government did not provide any financial incentives, such as tax breaks, to lure Tesla to the state, a spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abott said on Wednesday. Local jurisdictions did provide some financial incentives, however, to the tune of up to $60 million.
Musk’s other big company, SpaceX, operates a rocket launch facility at the far southeast tip of Texas near its border with Mexico. [Austin American-Statesman] — Dennis Lynch