Tesla to build electric-car factory in San Jose

[V8Cobrakid]

http://www.mercurynews.com/drive/ci_10481210

Tesla to build electric-car factory in San Jose

BOLD EFFORT LURES ELECTRIC-CAR MAKER
By Matt Nauman
Mercury News
Article Launched: 09/16/2008 08:59:00 PM PDT

Tesla Motors and San Jose will announce today that the city has been tapped as the future home for the electric-car maker's factory and new headquarters.
Both will be located on about 90 acres of land adjacent to the water-treatment plant off Zanker Road near Highway 237 in North San Jose. That property is jointly owned by San Jose and Santa Clara, whose city councils still need to approve the terms of the deal.

[daniel]

This is one of the very few EV companies I take seriously. They have some wealthy backers, they have not side-stepped safety testing, as Zap and Zenn and Tango do, each in its own way, and they have a realistic business plan, going for the high-end low-volume market first, where their low volume capacity can compete, and aiming for lower-cost and higher-volume models as they penetrate the car market and accumulate capital.

(Zap avoids safety testing by leaving off one wheel, and thereby classifying it as a "motorcycle." Zenn does it by sticking in the NEV classification. And Tango does it by pretending to be a kit car, which you can assemble in a day. All are good, but none can penetrate the mainstream car market.)

[aliendroid]

uhh ohh made in america, so I guess 99% of the people here won't buy it.

[daniel]

Originally Posted by aliendroid

uhh ohh made in america, so I guess 99% of the people here won't buy it.

That's a pretty stupid remark. People here have bought a Japanese car because there is not a single American car maker (except now, Tesla) making a single car that is not crap. I know I speak for 99% of priusChat members when I say we desperately want to be able to buy an American made car, if somebody would make one as good as the Prius.

It remains to be seen if Tesla's family sedan (third in line in their business plan) will be an affordable, high-quality car, but what I'm seeing of the company gives me hope that it will be. It will be several years, however, before they're up to the quantity that can make a difference in the market. Their next car, after the Roadster, will be an expensive sporty sedan, and the Roadster has just recently gone into production.