Tesla in Tulsa

[Bunty]

This factory would be larger than the one in California, and it employs more than 10,000 people...

That's NUTS

Maybe Musk thinks that high number is nuts, too. I wonder if thanks to advances in automation 10,000+ workers could be reduced to 5000 workers in 10 years.

[mugofbeer]

Friggin' Austin is the last place it should go. Sure, if you want to commute 90 minutes to work on overcrowded streets and highways, pay 5x the property taxes and 2x the housing costs of Tulsa. , then just make "the rich, richer" down there. Let Musk build his house and become a citizen of Austin, but let the factory come to Oklahoma!

[PhiAlpha]

This factory would be larger than the one in California, and it employs more than 10,000 people...

That's NUTS

And we have a huge workforce of laid off oil and gas service workers that would be a perfect fit for some of these roles. Our economy could really use something like this.

[BG918]

And we have a huge workforce of laid off oil and gas service workers that would be a perfect fit for some of these roles. Our economy could really use something like this.

Not to mention plenty of engineers and mechanics who could lose their jobs. AA hasn’t had any layoffs at the Mx base yet (that we know of) but who knows as the airline industry is ravaged. Per this article AA is still moving forward with a $550M investment in the base. https://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/e...6ff193af0.html

[HangryHippo]

BG, that’s really good news. I wondered if they would call that off due to Covid.

[gopokes88]

Catch is the expert here but I imagine maintenance bases have the 30 year view in mind not 3

[roci28]

Out of curiosity, what makes Tulsa more appealing than the OKC metro for Musk? It will be great for the state if Tulsa gets this, but I'd prefer it to go in OKC

[ChrisHayes]

Out of curiosity, what makes Tulsa more appealing than the OKC metro for Musk? It will be great for the state if Tulsa gets this, but I'd prefer it to go in OKC

I can think of some areas for it to go around OKC. I'm betting they're eyeing mid-America industrial park though. There's a LOT Of land available for expansion there, and it could be a huge hub for IT and manufacturing in the state. I wish we had something like that in OKC. Even half the size.

[gopokes88]

Out of curiosity, what makes Tulsa more appealing than the OKC metro for Musk? It will be great for the state if Tulsa gets this, but I'd prefer it to go in OKC

-The port gives access to the Mississippi therefore the upper Midwest. Also the east coast via the Gulf.
-Tulsa has a unique culture. It’s this mix of old f you money, a great under-appreciated music scene, architecture, arts, and has a real sense of community fabric.
-Gathering place.
-Scenic

I don’t think it’s OKC vs Tulsa.

It’s more likely Musk thought well obviously Austin is in the mix where else, and Tulsa came up.

[Midtowner]

Tulsa would probably attract Tesla because of its abundance of clean hydroelectric energy.

[BG918]

Out of curiosity, what makes Tulsa more appealing than the OKC metro for Musk? It will be great for the state if Tulsa gets this, but I'd prefer it to go in OKC

Tulsa has a larger manufacturing sector, and between TCC, Tulsa Tech and TWS there is a very skilled workforce in NE Oklahoma. A lot of it goes back to the oil capitol days when rigs, pipe and other industry components were built in Tulsa. Also the aerospace industry is obviously one of the bigger sectors and in addition to AA there is Spirit, Lufthansa Technik, NORDAM, Triumph and many others.

[catch22]

Not to mention plenty of engineers and mechanics who could lose their jobs. AA hasn’t had any layoffs at the Mx base yet (that we know of) but who knows as the airline industry is ravaged. Per this article AA is still moving forward with a $550M investment in the base. https://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/e...6ff193af0.html

Maintenance is about the only workgroup not being negatively affected by COVID related reductions. Even in storage, airplanes require maintenance and upkeep. All of our (United) airplanes in active storage in Denver (i.e. parked but not inactive) are being completely powered up and engine runs performed every 3-5 days. They aren't being taxied around, so it also requires periodical lifting of the airplane to rotate the tires so they don't form dead spots from sitting stationary too long. Calendar-based maintenance and checks are still being performed as if the airplane is in active service. (i.e. "every 200 flight hours or 30 calendar days, whichever comes first" - type stuff) The goal is to keep a large percentage of the fleet ready to deploy should demand rebound quicker than expected. I haven't heard of any layoffs in TUL at AA, but I am not as familiar with them

I believe the mechanics are the only workgroup allowed overtime at the moment. I imagine AA's base is similarly active.

[Bunty]

According to this it's already decided it's Austin: https://electrek.co/2020/05/15/tesla...-austin-texas/

[BG918]

-The port gives access to the Mississippi therefore the upper Midwest. Also the east coast via the Gulf.
-Tulsa has a unique culture. It’s this mix of old f you money, a great under-appreciated music scene, architecture, arts, and has a real sense of community fabric.
-Gathering place.
-Scenic

I don’t think it’s OKC vs Tulsa.

It’s more likely Musk thought well obviously Austin is in the mix where else, and Tulsa came up.

I honestly think the bus plant has something to do with this. About 2 weeks ago it came out that the City of Tulsa and Navistar were at an impasse; CoT said Navistar was not holding up its end of the bargain maintaining the facility they lease from the city for $1/year - Navistar saying CoT is being unreasonable with their demands.

https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news...over-bus-plant

All of sudden Tesla just announces out of the blue that Tulsa is a finalist for the plant “after visiting 2 sites” in Tulsa. This is just purely speculation but the fact that Tesla could move into an existing auto manufacturing facility basically right away in the center of the country next to a rail line, runways and highways (no new infrastructure needed) and within 5 miles of a river port in a metropolitan area of 1M people with a highly skilled manufacturing workforce and potentially getting 1 million square feet of factory for $1/year likely piqued their interest...

[Bunty]

I honestly think the bus plant has something to do with this. About 2 weeks ago it came out that the City of Tulsa and Navistar were at an impasse; CoT said Navistar was not holding up its end of the bargain maintaining the facility they lease from the city for $1/year - Navistar saying CoT is being unreasonable with their demands.

https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news...over-bus-plant

All of sudden Tesla just announces out of the blue that Tulsa is a finalist for the plant “after visiting 2 sites” in Tulsa. This is just purely speculation but the fact that Tesla could move into an existing auto manufacturing facility basically right away in the center of the country next to a rail line, runways and highways (no new infrastructure needed) and within 5 miles of a river port in a metropolitan area of 1M people with a highly skilled manufacturing workforce and potentially getting 1 million square feet of factory for $1/year likely piqued their interest...

Interesting speculation but the Tesla plant in Fremont, CA is 5.3 million square feet.

[BG918]

Interesting speculation but the Tesla plant in Fremont, CA is 5.3 million square feet.

The entire city-owned facility (the former Air Force Plant #3) is 3.8 million square feet; Spirit Aerosystems is the other tenant. The entire site covers 642 acres nearly double the size of the Tesla factory site in Fremont.

[OKC Guy]

I think Tesla wants to build their own plant is my guess.

[AP]

How would it help the city to replace those manufacturing jobs with Tesla jobs? Surely the goal is to retain the bus jobs and find a new space for Tesla.

[OkiePoke]

Tesla has mentioned they want cars rolling off the line by end of the year. I have no idea how that is possible.

[gopokes88]

How would it help the city to replace those manufacturing jobs with Tesla jobs? Surely the goal is to retain the bus jobs and find a new space for Tesla.

The status symbol of having Tesla would be a net benefit, but yeah

[BG918]

The status symbol of having Tesla would be a net benefit, but yeah

Agree but if it’s Navistar buses vs Tesla electric trucks I think you know which one the city would want more. The Navistar plant does have 1600 employees so one of the larger manufacturing employers in Tulsa that not many really know about. Odds are if you’ve been in a school bus in the past 20 years it was built in Tulsa.

[PhiAlpha]

Tesla has mentioned they want cars rolling off the line by end of the year. I have no idea how that is possible.

The dude is about to launch people into space from the US for the first time in over a decade and is working on missions to Mars. End of the year seems pretty implausible but it certainly wouldn’t be the most ambitious goal he’s shooting for haha.

[king183]

In my experience working with companies similar to Tesla and knowing how we announced expansions to new cities, the site was already decided well in advance before anything--even speculation-- got to the media and negotiations were already well under way with the chosen city's leadership, who were required to stay very tight lipped. Based on how Stitt and Mayor Bynum are reacting to the speculation Tulsa is on the list, this leads me to believe there are no ongoing negotiations and Tulsa is likely out of the running at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if Austin was chosen weeks ago and negotiations are well under way, but Tulsa was reported because it became known that it was at one time under consideration/Telsa was conducting due diligence.

[Tulsan]

In my experience working with companies similar to Tesla and knowing how we announced expansions to new cities, the site was already decided well in advance before anything--even speculation-- got to the media and negotiations were already well under way with the chosen city's leadership, who were required to stay very tight lipped. Based on how Stitt and Mayor Bynum are reacting to the speculation Tulsa is on the list, this leads me to believe there are no ongoing negotiations and Tulsa is likely out of the running at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if Austin was chosen weeks ago and negotiations are well under way, but Tulsa was reported because it became known that it was at one time under consideration/Telsa was conducting due diligence.

This is not correct. Negotiations are ongoing.

[aDark]

This is not correct. Negotiations are ongoing.

Ummm... an account named "Tulsan" is less than 6 months old and makes their first post ever hoping to convince users that Tulsa has a shot for landing the Tesla factory.

Elon, is this you? If so please pay off my student loans!!