Tesla To Build Model S Production Unit

  • September 18, 2008
Tesla Motors Inc., which makes electric cars, plans to build a $250 million facility to manufacture a zero-emission luxury sedan in Silicon Valley. The company says it will also relocate its corporate headquarters and research and development efforts to a consolidated campus in San Jose, Calif.

Construction will begin next summer. The company says its Model S, a five-passenger luxury sedan powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, will have a base price of about $60,000 and will get about 240 miles per charge.

The company currently makes one car, an all-electric roadster, assembled at Group Lotus PLC factory in Hethel, UK. Tesla has sold 30 of the cars and said it was increasing production to meet demand. Per Tesla, about 1,200 people have put down deposits to reserve a Roadster.

Executive Vice President Mike Donoughe, who spent 24 years at Chrysler, is overseeing Tesla's Model S and Roadster programs. Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja was formerly controller at Ford. Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen, former director of design for Mazda North America, is designing the Model S. --Karl Greenberg

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