Tesla's Big F***ing Field

[ComeOnBenjals]

Obviously would be huge for Tulsa.  Austin is stiff competition, but there are a lot of things Tulsa has going for it.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/15/tesla-scouts-head-to-tulsa-austin-as-hunt-for-cybertruck-gigafactory-location-nears-end/

This article says that company officials visited Tulsa this week... doesn't seem to be confirmed in Austin's favor then.

[Rattle Trap]

There's some sources out there claiming they've already picked Austin, but later reports saying Tulsa is a finalist as well. If they've already picked Austin it wouldn't make much sense for them to have site visits here as recently as this week.

Obviously they would pit finalists against each other to get incentives, but usually those finalists are larger cities, with capacity for larger incentives. Picking Tulsa as a second finalist simply to try to get better incentives seems like it would be really odd.

Not sure what to think, but it sounds like a decision will be made quickly.

[Laramie]

Confirmed by the Oklahoman,

MAY 15, 2020 - DETROIT (AP) - Tesla has picked Austin, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, as finalists for its new U.S. assembly plant, a person briefed on the matter said Friday.

[SXSW]

Tesla's other Battery plants are in Reno and Buffalo, for what it's worth.  I still think the bus plant is the key to all of this and it isn't a coincidence the city has been having issues with them.

[Laramie]

Telsa in T-town, good luck Tulsa.



If awarded to Tulsa, the plant will qualify for Oklahoma Quality Jobs incentives...

[patric]

Obviously they would pit finalists against each other to get incentives, but usually those finalists are larger cities, with capacity for larger incentives. Picking Tulsa as a second finalist simply to try to get better incentives seems like it would be really odd.

Which airline was it a few years ago that used the threat of moving to Tulsa as leverage against the city they wanted more concessions from?

[Jacobei]

While Tulsa does fit the bill of being more centrally located in the country, I think we have a Solyndra's chance in Tulsa that this will come here.  I hate to be negative, but I've been burned by unrealistic hopes before.

I think we're being used as leverage option and nothing else.

[Laramie]

While Tulsa does fit the bill of being more centrally located in the country, I think we have a Solyndra's chance in Tulsa that this will come here.  I hate to be negative, but I've been burned by unrealistic hopes before.

I think we're being used as leverage option and nothing else.

American Airline Maintenance Center, Tulsa has been there before.  Austin also thinks they are being used as leverage...

Austin is now one of the top ten cities in the U.S. with the worst traffic.

[LandArchPoke]

Which airline was it a few years ago that used the threat of moving to Tulsa as leverage against the city they wanted more concessions from?

Boeing? I don't remember any actual Airline ever discussing moving to Tulsa. That was just the Dreamliner production, which in hindsight given all of Boeing's problems wasn't as big of a loss. I don't think at the end of the day they really got more out of Washington to keep operations there, and really all we offered them was to build their plant for them which they already had most of what they needed already in Everett. So it wasn't as appealing of an offer to uproot everything to move to Tulsa than most probably thought it was.

The only reason I'm hopeful is if they really are considering the Navistar Bus Plant. There's not a site in Austin that could offer them the same appeal on a logistics basis (directly on the airport, directly on a rail line which is critical to auto plants, and near a port). The sites they've looked at in Austin are in Hutto and Jarrell for reference, so north of Georgetown and south of Temple/Killeen. Not exactly the 'cool' part of Austin. From a talent prospective and appeal side Austin is likely the winner, but Tesla does have a history of not being afraid to locate operations in non-primary MSA's (Reno and Buffalo) and they could acquire 'talent' in Tulsa for a lot cheaper than in Austin. Oklahoma did pass an auto manufacturing tax credit in the last few years which would give them $5,000 per employee. So Oklahoma can offer up a competitive incentive package. 

Tulsa is at least getting a lot of press out of it to be named a 'finalist' even if we're being used as leverage. There was a significant increase of relocations scouting for most cities named as finalist for Amazon from other firms. Hopefully even if Tulsa isn't picked for the site we can use it as a positive.

[Laramie]

This showed up on the OKCTalk.com forum:

May 15, 2020

Tesla's next factory is going to be in Austin, Texas, and it's going to happen quickly: https://electrek.co/2020/05/15/tesla-factory-austin-texas/

Hope there is no validity to this report.

[shavethewhales]

^I mean, everyone is rushing to discount Tulsa immediately. If they did indeed come here, then that means we are in some kind of consideration even if it is an outside chance. electrek.co is claiming to have the initial scoop, but apparently Tesla themselves clarified that they hadn't decided yet and Tulsa was still in the running?

Sure, they are probably still trying to use us as leverage, but Austin is pretty darn expensive and as I understand it Tesla isn't allowed to sell directly in Texas currently? Oklahoma doesn't have a lot of stuff going for it intrinsically, but Tulsa is no slouch and both Tulsa and OK will do whatever they can to attract Tesla whereas Texas might be a bit more picky. With Musk's ambitious goals and crazy attitude, I can see Austin being much more tricky to build in than Tulsa.

Then again I just looked through some other articles and they pointed out that Musk has been in Austin recently and posted a bunch of Texas stuff. There are rumors they have already closed on a property out in a field outside of Hutto TX, which is the far north part of the Austin metro.

[patric]

This showed up on the OKCTalk.com forum:

May 15, 2020

Tesla's next factory is going to be in Austin, Texas, and it's going to happen quickly: https://electrek.co/2020/05/15/tesla-factory-austin-texas/

Im pretty sure they read it here first.



Tulsa in the running?

The reports started with Electrek, a pro-Tesla site whose co-founder Fred Lambert has good connections inside the company. Just before 3pm Eastern time, Lambert reported that Tesla had settled on Austin, Texas as the site of its next factory.

Hours after Electrek's story ran, three news organizations—TechCrunch, CNBC, and the Associated Press—all published stories stating that Tesla was still considering Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"A final decision has not been made, but Austin and Tulsa are among the finalists," Techcrunch's Kirsten Korosec writes, citing "multiple sources."

Lambert accused Tesla of feeding these stories to rival news organizations. I don't know if he's right, but it's not hard to imagine why Tesla would want to avoid tipping its hand. The threat to pick another location would give Tesla leverage in negotiations with Texas and Austin officials. We've asked Tesla for comment on the conflicting reports and will update this story if the company responds.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/05/report-tesla-plans-to-build-a-new-car-factory-in-texas/



So after @FredericLambert 's exclusive that Tesla chose Austin. Tesla reached out to not 1 or 2 but at least 3 different news outlets to say they were still considering Tulsa (LOL?!)
https://mobile.twitter.com/FredericLambert/status/1261414416886624259

[Laramie]

We're still pulling for Tulsa.  Convinced that nothing is official until an official announcement has been made.

[SXSW]

Either way to be considered is a step in the right direction and evidence Tulsa can compete with larger cities for these types of jobs.

[Rattle Trap]

https://www.cybertruckbutts.com/

The people who made the big fu*king field website are at it again....