Tesla Looking Outside Of California For Battery "Giga Factory"

PALO ALTO (AP) -- Electric car maker Tesla Motors is considering sites in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for a massive battery factory that would employ around 6,500 people.

Tesla plans to start construction this year and complete the factory in 2017.

The Palo Alto-based company expects the factory to supply enough batteries for the 500,000 cars it hopes to make by 2020.

Tesla and partners including battery maker Panasonic will invest between $4 billion and $5 billion to build the so-called 'giga factory,' which would supply battery packs to Tesla's Fremont assembly plant.

Tesla also announced Wednesday it would raise $1.6 billion in a debt offering. The proceeds would help finance the new factory and a lower-cost vehicle expected to go on sale at the end of 2016.

© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.