Tesla plans San Jose manufacturing site for electric car

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has convinced green car maker Tesla Motors to build a proposed $250 million facility in north San Jose, adding approximately 1,000 clean-tech jobs to his community by 2010. The deal will be disclosed today during a press conference in California.

The first phase will see Tesla locate a manufacturing facility for its electric cars on an 89-acre site near the San Jose Water Pollution Control Plant. The proposed assembly line is projected to begin producing electric sedans in late 2010, and will employ about 1,000 people when it is fully operational, according to the city. Eventually, the company plans to move its entire research and development team, and headquarters operations to San Jose, bringing another 525 jobs into the community by 2012.

Mayor Reed says San Jose's ability to accommodate Tesla's aggressive construction schedule as well as its 10-point Green Vision plan for the surrounding community were critical in the negotiations. The proposal must still be approved by the San Jose council in a meeting on Oct. 7, according to the mayor.

San Jose has pledged to create 25,000 clean-tech jobs over the course of its 15-year Green Vision (the plan was announced last year). So far, there are about 2,000 clean-tech jobs in the area, including 500 positions related to the solar industry that were created within the past year. "I think this will be one of the earliest goals we meet," Mayor Reed says.