Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) will build its newest Gigafactory near Austin, Texas, chief executive Elon Musk announced during the company’s earnings call on Wednesday.
The 2,000-acre site will be used to build the electric vehicle company’s Cybertruck, the Tesla Semi, and the Model 3 and Model Y for the eastern half of North America.
“It will be stunning. It’s right by the Colorado River. It will have a boardwalk,” Musk said during the call. “It will be an ecological paradise.”
Confirming previous statements, automotive President Jerome Guillen said on the call that the oft-delayed Tesla semi-truck is expected to begin production this year.
“We have a few trucks that keep driving around,” Guillen said, and “we want to accelerate that.”
Palo Alto-based Tesla will use the first few trucks to carry its own freight and has also promised early units to “longer-term, very patient customers,” Guillen said.
Among the customers are Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), which has ordered 40 Tesla Semis.
Additional sales will close next year, according to Guillen. “I’m very excited. We have very unique technology that we are dreaming about. It is awesome.”
But Musk, responding to a question from an institutional investor, appeared to tamp down expectations for the truck products, saying there is a “long way to go with the Cybertruck and Semi, a long way to go.”
Travis County, Texas, where the new gigafactory plant will be located, will give Tesla tax breaks worth a minimum of $14.7 million to build the plant and bring jobs to the area. The local school district also approved a $46.4 million tax deal to build the factory, which will be constructed on district property.
The earnings call followed Tesla’s second-quarter financial update, in which the electric vehicle company posted its fourth straight quarterly profit.
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