Tesla is looking for a location that will become home to the company’s Cybertruck Gigafactory. CEO Elon Musk announced via Twitter that the production facility for its first all-electric pickup truck will be located somewhere in the Central United States.
The futuristic Cybertruck, designed with manufacturing ease in mind from its stainless steel exoskeleton, has registered an unconfirmed 500,000 reservations according to crowd-sourced data and is expected to enter production in 2021.
Considering the company’s current-year estimates to produce an annualized 500,000 vehicles comprised largely of Model 3 and Model Y from its main factory in Fremont, California, Tesla’s need for a manufacturing facility in the world’s largest pickup truck market becomes paramount. And one Central US state, Texas, comes to mind.
Scouting locations for Cybertruck Gigafactory. Will be central USA.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2020
In early February 2020, Musk tested the waters for a potential location for Cybertruck production in Texas. After 80% of respondents stated they would be supportive of a Cybertruck Gigafactory in the Lone Star State, it is certainly possible that Tesla could set up a new plant there.
Cybertruck production in Texas would make a lot of sense. Texas is the state with the second-most truck registrations, trailing only California where Tesla is headquartered. A central location for the new Cybertruck Gigafactory would also be crucial to delivering the vehicle to owners in a timely fashion.
Tesla has made significant strides in ramping the production of its four vehicle models in the past few months. One of the most significant improvements the company made, according to the 2019 Q4 earnings report, was an increased rate of execution for production.
“Our pace of execution has also improved significantly, as we have incorporated many learnings from our experience launching the Model 3 in the United States,” the report stated.
As Tesla’s annual production numbers grow because of increasing demand, the company has come to terms with the fact that it must begin building more Gigafactories. As Chinese production grew, a Gigafactory in China became the best option to keep up with demand. The same has happened in Europe, and Tesla has built Giga Shanghai and is in the process of building Giga Berlin to keep up with these numbers.
The pickup truck is one of the most popular vehicle body styles in the United States as they are used for work with construction or hauling things for leisure. Because of the need for trucks all across the United States, a centralized location within the contiguous 48 would cut delivery times and be beneficial for anyone who chooses to own one of the most talked-about vehicles in the automotive industry in 2019.
