ARIZONA – Tesla’s proposed $4 billion Gigafactory may have found a home in Eloy or Gila Bend.
Arizona landowner Vermaland has offered Tesla Motors Inc. a 1,000-acre site in the farming community near Tucson to build its lithium-ion battery factory.
The site was offered to the green automaker at no charge by Vermaland CEO Kuldip Verma in late February. He also offered a 666-acre site in Gila Bend on the cheap. Verma wants to be in business with Tesla because he feels the automaker will accelerate Phoenix growth and do gangbusters for economic development in the area.
The Palo Alto-based company has said that Arizona is one of four states in contention for the $4 billion factory that could employ as many as 6,500 people. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 batteries could be produced at the site per year, making it the largest lithium-ion battery facility in the world and paving the way for a cheaper, more economical Tesla model.
Verma has contacted the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, who declined to comment on the offer because of their confidentiality agreement with Tesla.
Vermaland owns 25,000 acres of land across Arizona.
Pinal County would be an ideal location for Tesla due to the confluence of Union Pacific’s transcontinental railroad and its proximity to Interstates 10 and 8. Tesla has indicated they want to use renewable energy to power the plant, which makes the Gila Bend site ideal Verma said, adding that site has a power line running through it serving the Solana Generating Station nearby.
The West Valley has also been keeping an eye on the Tesla Gigafactory project as a site west of the White Tank Mountains in buckey is also a possibility for the site.
Texas, Nevada and New Mexico are also in the running for the project.
Source: AZCentral.com
