Tesla Motors Said to Be at 'Lawyering' Stage of Deal for Model S Production Site
By Scott Doggett November 24, 2009
The next electric vehicle that Tesla Motors will come out with is the Model S (pictured), successor to the Roadster and the Roadster Sport.
Exactly where the sleek sedan will be built is less certain, although Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company is looking at sites in California.
If the mayor of Downey, a community halfway between Los Angeles and Long Beach, is correct, Tesla will soon be a neighbor of his.
In an article in Monday's Downey Patriot, Mayor Mario Guerra is quoted as saying the deal is "99.9 percent" done.
"The deal points have all been agreed to," Guerra said. "Now it's the lawyering stuff."
The deal would involve the city, the automaker and Industrial Realty Group, which represents the 80-acre lot where Downey Studios currently sits.
Ricardo Reyes, vice president of communications at Tesla, said there's "nothing to announce" in an email to GreenCarAdvisor.
Tesla, the leader in the manufacturing and sales of electric cars, received $465 million in low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy in June to accelerate production of the Model S.
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