GREENSBORO, N.C. — Editor's note: The video featured in this article is from May 19, 2020
Tesla has picked the Austin, Texas, area as the site for its largest auto assembly plant employing at least 5,000 workers.
The company will build on a 2,100-acre tract in Travis County and will get more than $60 million in tax breaks from the county and a local school district. The new factory will build Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck pickup. It also will be a second U.S. factory for the Model Y small SUV.
The region that’s home to the University of Texas at Austin and tech companies such as Dell Inc., was a candidate all along. But Tulsa, Oklahoma, showed up on the shortlist in mid-May.
Tesla doesn’t have a lot of time to get the factory running. The company says on its website that the Cybertruck will be available starting late next year.
The news may come as a disappointment as Greensboro Chamber of Commerce recently tried to get Tesla's attention. In May, Greensboro tried to lure Tesla by flying an airplane over Tesla headquarters in Northern California with a banner reading “Tesla – come to NC. We want you at G-R Megasite,” for hours.
The Cybertruck mega-site was not the only reason the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce flew the plane, officials said. During the pandemic, Tesla was looking at relocating its California plant, according to Greensboro Chamber of Commerce President Brent Christensen, and that project also on the Chamber's radar.
The Chamber still wants Tesla's attention for other projects, and Christensen said he believes there is still a good chance to land major business from the American electric car and clean energy company.