Is Tesla Talking to Boeing in its Hunt for a Southern California EV Plant?
By John O'Dell April 28, 2009Former 717 Airliner Plant Reportedly in Play as Potential 'Model S' Factory
From aircraft to automotive?
A Long Beach, Calif., news blog cited unidentified sources in a report Sunday that a Boeing aircraft facility in the city just south of Los Angeles is in the running to be the site for Tesla Motors' proposed Southern California assembly plant for the Model S electric sedan (left).
Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad was emphatic Monday evening in stating that the EV maker has "not signed any lease on any facility." But she didn't say that there are no negotiations.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company is close to securing a facility somewhere near his Space X rocket facility in Hawthorne, Calif., which is next door to Long Beach.
The company needs a plant to launch development and manufacture of its $55,000 Model S battery-electric sedan, which Musk unveiled last month.
Tesla is waiting on word that it has been approved for a $350 million federal advanced technology vehicle development loan - a loan that is available to automakers upgrading or retrofitting existing manufacturing facilities rather than building new ones.
That opened speculation that Tesla would be looking at one of the several vacant or soon-to-be-vacant aerospace facilities dotting the California landscape. Musk confirmed last month that he'd found a place near Hawthorne and is busy nailing down a deal, but wouldn't say where or what kind of facility it is.
Boeing put the Long Beach facility on the market in 2006 after ending production of the B-717 airliner, and a large part of it has been razed and graded for a park and housing, according to various news reports. The Boeing C-17 military cargo jet (right)
is still assembled on the site, though, and two cavernous aircraft assembly buildings that remain standing apparently are what are in play.
The aircraft maker late last year was reported to be in negotiations to sell or lease some part of the the plant to an independent film studio, Long Beach Studios LLC., that wanted to use it for sound stages, offices and a hotel complex.
But that deal reportedly fell through earlier this year and, as we first read on AutoblogGreen.com, Long Beach's independent "District Weekly" reported that Tesla was one of several suitors talking to Boeing about the site. The others include a solar panel maker, a wind turbine manufacturer and Long Beach Studios, reportedly resurrecting its movie and television studio proposal.
City officials and Boeing declined to comment and Tesla issued its denial that a deal has been done.
As for when word of a deal, for the Long Beach Boeing plant or some other facility, might be forthcoming, Tesla suggests not holding our breath.
"Unfortunately." Konrad wrote in an e-mail to Green Car Advisor, "we aren't going to provide any details until we have finalized a deal."
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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