Tesla to Build All-Electric Luxury Sedan in California in 2010

Continuing its investments, Tesla Motors announced that it is planning to build a $250 million facility to manufacture a zero-emission luxury sedan in the heart of Silicon Valley. Named Model S, the five-passenger sedan will be powered by a lithium-ion battery pack and according, it is expected to have a base price of $60,000 and get around 240 miles or 386 km per charge. The first sedans will likely roll off the Tesla’s new assembly line in late 2010. Tesla’s President and CEO Ze'ev Drori said that construction on the 89-acre site would begin in the summer of 2009 and when fully operational, the facility will employ approximately 1,000 workers. -Continued

The company also said that it will relocate its corporate headquarters and research and development efforts to a consolidated campus in San Jose, California. Tesla, which currently produces the all-electric, two-seater Lotus Elise-based Roadster, said that it chose San Jose in part because the region already enjoys a high concentration of highly skilled engineers and support infrastructure. The new factory will be located 20 miles from the current headquarters in San Carlos.

The new plant won’t affect the Roadster as Tesla has no plans of moving production from the Group Lotus PLC factory in Hethel, U.K. Last week the company said it was ramping up production as about 1,200 people have already put down deposits for the Roadster. So far, Tesla has delivered only about 30 Roadsters.