[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] American electric vehicle company Tesla is reportedly planning to invest more than $1 billion (approximately 1.19 trillion KRW) in its fifth 'Gigafactory' plant to be built in Austin, Texas, with construction expected to be completed by the end of the year.
According to major foreign media on the 22nd (local time), Tesla explained its investment plans for various production facilities at the Austin plant in documents submitted to the Texas state licensing and regulatory department on the 19th, stating that construction of five facilities including assembly and painting will be completed by December 31.
Tesla stated that these five facilities will be built on approximately 400,000 square meters of land, with a total investment of $1.06 billion planned.
Previously, Tesla announced in July last year that it planned to invest a total of $1.1 billion in the construction of the Austin plant.
At that time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he would build an electric vehicle factory in Travis County, located 15 minutes from Austin, and planned to open this factory, which would be an 'eco-friendly paradise,' to the public.
Major foreign media reported that work is ongoing day and night at the Austin plant construction site, and once completed, the factory building is expected to be at least 1.21 km in length.
The state of Texas promised Tesla a tax rebate of $65 million (approximately 77.3 billion KRW), and Tesla plans to create 10,000 jobs at the Austin plant.
Tesla started with 'Gigafactory Nevada,' which began operations in 2016, followed by 'Gigafactory New York' and 'Gigafactory Shanghai,' and is currently constructing 'Gigafactory Berlin,' which will serve as its European production base.
Tesla plans to relocate its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin.
Musk also moved his residence from Los Angeles (LA) to near Austin last year.
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