After receiving a $465 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, Tesla was tasked with locating a manufacturing plant that was at least 20 years old to retrofit as a Tesla production facility. Tesla has been publicly shopping in both Long Beach and Downey, California, but Downey’s mayor is now saying that the deal is “99.9 percent done.”
According to a local newspaper, Downey Patriot, Downey’s City Council could convene as early as this evening to formally approve the deal with Tesla . The location in Downey is a former NASA site that was the oldest in the country – dating back to 1929.
It is only fitting that the former NASA site responsible for more major space programs than any other NASA site in history, now be the site for the pioneering of another science – the electrification of the automobile. This location will be specifically tasked with the production of Tesla’s all-electric 2012 Model S luxury sports sedan.
Tesla’s decision for the former NASA site in Downey may come as no surprise to those closely following the selection process. Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, made it known that the City of Long Beach failed to make a reasonable effort to obtain Tesla’s business very public earlier this year.
Long Beach had a former Boeing site that would have qualified Tesla for special tax incentives potentially worth millions of dollars in savings.
