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Tesla gets open invite from Oklahoma to establish its headquarters in state
Tesla has received an invitation to move its headquarters to the Central U.S. state of Oklahoma after CEO Elon Musk hinted last week that his company could be leaving its current Northern California location.
Tesla and Musk have both received a series of offers from multiple U.S. states over the past week. Musk claims Tesla could sever its relationship with California after Alameda County, the jurisdiction that the Fremont factory sits in, overruled State Governor Gavin Newsom’s approval for manufacturing and transportation businesses to resume production.
Oklahoma State Representative Ryan Martinez and Governor Kevin Stitt are among a group of Oklahomans willing to welcome the electric carmaker into their state with open arms, Fox affiliate KOKH in Oklahoma City reported.
After Musk stated Tesla would be moving its company to Nevada and Texas, Rep. Martinez said, “Oklahoma is a wonderful place to do business. We’ve got a low tax base, a low cost of living, great incentives and services, and plenty of space to build a manufacturing headquarters and house all of your people.”
Before the COVID-19 virus ripped through the United States, Musk stated that the company would be exploring lands in the center of the country so it could plan on building a new Gigafactory that would assist in Cybertruck and Model Y production. While Musk posted a poll on his personal Twitter account that specifically mentioned Texas, there is no indication that he or the automaker has settled on the Lone Star State as its next home.
While speculation continues to persist over where Tesla will open its next Gigafactory, Oklahoma is indeed a state that fits all of the company’s needs in terms of land needed, location, and cost of operation.
Oklahoma is a flat and open state located in the center of the United States. When Musk talked about a new facility, he stated it had to be in the middle of the U.S., expediting the delivery process to East Coast customers.
Much of the land in Oklahoma is rural and maintained by farmers or is used for cattle grazing. However, there are large masses that remain unoccupied and would be perfect for Tesla’s newest, and perhaps most expansive, production facility to date.
As Rep. Martinez said, Oklahoma’s tax base, cost of living, and property value are significantly less than California’s. Less expensive operating expenses for the company would increase its profit margins and allow for a more comfortable living experience for employees.
According to bestplaces.net, the average cost of a home in California is $552,800. In Oklahoma, the average house costs just $124,800, making it much more affordable for workers who are on the production lines of Tesla’s factories every day.
Tesla’s invitations to the different U.S. states indicates that many territories recognize the positive economic and environmental impact the automaker would bring. Tesla employs 10,000 people at the Fremont facility. With Musk stating the newest Giga facility would be its largest yet, the company could end up using even more people in its new home.
Elon Musk reopened Tesla’s Fremont facility earlier this week against the wishes of Alameda County. Explicitly focused on getting employees back to work and ramping production, Musk said, “If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”
Tesla has launched a new Model Y configuration in the “Premium” trim, and it comes with three highly requested features that have launched in markets outside of the U.S. and in other trims.
Tesla announced on Monday night that it has officially launched the Model Y Premium in a seven-seat configuration, which also comes standard with a 16″ touchscreen and black headliner, both of which are featured in the Model Y Performance trim.
The seven-seat configuration is highly requested by consumers and helps fill out the more spacious SUV offering that the lineup has missed outside of the Model X, which prices out many consumers. This new upgrade only costs $2,500 extra for all three features, bringing the cash price to $48,990.
This also comes with the larger 16” touchscreen! pic.twitter.com/aiAxWUTKZa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 13, 2026
The move to add the seven-seat configuration with the black headliner and additional screen size is a welcome addition, as many Tesla fans have asked the company to come out with an SUV with more seating capacity. Although it is not a full-size SUV, the additional seating will certainly attract some buyers with bigger families.
It appears the third row is slightly more spacious than the past iteration of the seven-seat Model Y, which was available in the previous design pre-Juniper:
Credit: Tesla
However, it definitely still appears to be pretty cramped in terms of legroom. It will definitely be a seating arrangement for smaller passengers, mostly reserved for children.
The other two upgrades are the black headliner, which was launched in other markets and in the Model Y Performance. Many owners have wanted this change, and Tesla listened, but is only offering it with the seven-seat configuration. It also has a larger 16″ touchscreen, also present in the Model Y Performance exclusively:
Credit: Tesla
It is a nice touch to add these highly requested features to the all-electric crossover, which was the best-selling vehicle in the world for the third consecutive year.
Tesla has expanded its branded ‘For Business’ Supercharger program that it launched last year, as yet another company is using the platform to attract EV owners to its business and utilize a unique advertising opportunity.
Francis Energy of Oklahoma is launching four Superchargers in Norman, where the University of Oklahoma is located. The Superchargers, which are fitted with branding for Francis Energy, will officially open tomorrow.
It will not be the final Supercharger location that Francis Energy plans to open, the company confirmed to EVWire.
Back in early September, Tesla launched the new “Supercharger for Business” program in an effort to give businesses the ability to offer EV charging at custom rates. It would give their businesses visibility and would also cater to employees or customers.
“Purchase and install Superchargers at your business,” Tesla wrote on a page on its website for the new program. “Superchargers are compatible with all electric vehicles, bringing EV drivers to your business by offering convenient, reliable charging.”
The first site opened in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, which is Northeast of Tampa, as a company called Suncoast launched the Superchargers for local EV owners.
Tesla launches its new branded Supercharger for Business with first active station
The program also does a great job at expanding infrastructure for EV owners, which is something that needs to be done to encourage more people to purchase Teslas and other electric cars.
Francis Energy operates at least 14 EV charging locations in Oklahoma, spanning from Durant to Oklahoma City and nearly everywhere in between. Filings from the company, listed by Supercharge.info, show the company’s plans to convert some of them to Tesla Superchargers, potentially utilizing the new Supercharger for Business program to advertise.
Moving forward, more companies will likely utilize Tesla’s Supercharger for Business program as it presents major advantages in a variety of ways, especially with advertising and creating a place for EV drivers to gain range in their cars.
Tesla Cybercab is perhaps the most highly-anticipated project that the company plans to roll out this year, and as it is undergoing its testing phase in pre-production currently, there are some things to work through with it.
Over the weekend, an image of the Cybercab being loaded onto a tow truck started circulating on the internet, and people began to speculate as to what the issue could be.
Hmmmmmm… https://t.co/L5hWcOXQkb pic.twitter.com/OJBDyHNTMj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 11, 2026
The Cybercab can clearly be seen with a Police Officer and perhaps the tow truck driver by its side, being loaded onto, or even potentially unloaded from, the truck.
However, it seems unlikely it was being offloaded, as its operation would get it to this point for testing to begin with.
It appears, at first glance, that it needs assistance getting back to wherever it came from; likely Gigafactory Texas or potentially a Bay Area facility.
The Cybercab was also spotted in Buffalo, New York, last week, potentially undergoing cold-weather testing, but it doesn’t appear that’s where this incident took place.
It is important to remember that the Cybercab is currently undergoing some rigorous testing scenarios, which include range tests and routine public road operation. These things help Tesla assess any potential issue the vehicle could run into after it starts routine production and heads to customers, or for the Robotaxi platform operation.
This is not a one-off issue, either. Tesla had some instances with the Semi where it was seen broken down on the side of a highway three years ago. The all-electric Semi has gone on to be successful in its early pilot program, as companies like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo. have had very positive remarks.
The Cybercab’s future is bright, and it is important to note that no vehicle model has ever gone its full life without a breakdown. It happens, it’s a car.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that there has been no official word on what happened with this particular Cybercab unit, but it is crucial to remember that this is the pre-production testing phase, and these things are more constructive than anything.
Tesla Model Y gets fresh configuration with three highly requested features
Tesla expands its branded ‘For Business’ Superchargers
