Tesla Motors opens engineering center in Detroit 'burbs

Tesla Motors opens engineering center in Detroit 'burbs

Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley company reviving the electric car, is opening an engineering center in Detroit’s suburbs.

Tesla’s chief executive officer Martin Eberhard said at a panel discussion on the environment and cars held in conjunction with the Detroit auto show that the company already has hired a dozen engineers to staff the technical center in Rochester Hills, Mich., not far from Chrysler headquarters. He predicts the staff will grow to about 60 by year-end. They will be mostly chassis, body and suspension engineers more than powertrain engineers. “If you want to hire good automotive engineers, you have to come here,” he said.

He said the Michigan center is focused on Tesla’s “White Star” program, the basic engineering for a vehicle, likely a sedan or crossover, that can carry more than two people and would cost about $50,000, almost half the price of Tesla’s $92,000 roadster.

Tesla further is being wooed by the state of Michigan and its governor, Jennifer Granholm, to build a manufacturing facility in the state. Michigan is trying to position itself as the center of expertise in engineering and manufacturing high-tech, alternative fuel vehicles.

—Michelle Krebs

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.