Online buzz has swelled ever since Tesla's
colourful but controversial founder and chief executive Elon Musk tweeted word
of the event, with reports of perhaps as many as 15,000 guests taking part in
the official plant opening.
Tesla owners posted plans for cross country
road trips, while others urged the uninvited to just show up and find a way
inside.
The company has remained mum about details
of the extravaganza, but rumours abound, including reports of an open bar and
concert at Tesla's 74 acre home in Texas.
Tesla fans have posted drone footage and
other video showing sightings of what could be new vehicle models on display at
the event.
"I got a golden ticket!" Luke
Metger, president of a Texas environmental organisation, tweeted on the eve of
the party, attaching a screen-shot of his invite to the Cyber Rodeo - Giga
Texas gala.
But will Texas be Musk's land of promise?
Farewell Silicon Valley
The move to a US state known for
conservative Republican politics is seen by some as Musk stepping away from the
liberal Silicon Valley culture in which he made his fortune.
The South African serial entrepreneur is
now ranked the world's richest man. He founded Tesla in Silicon Valley in 2003,
but shifted its headquarters to Texas late last year.
Musk has clashed with California
regulators, particularly when health precautions mandated at the height of the
pandemic closed Tesla's Fremont plant.
California is also investigating whether
discrimination took place at Tesla's plant there.
It remains to be seen how Musk will
navigate conservative policies in Texas, such as the state's restrictive new
abortion law and limits on seeking health services for transgender children.
Part of the Texas allure is a lack of
corporate or personal income taxes. Tesla received more than $60 million in tax
breaks to build the factory, which is expected to employ 10,000 people over
time.
While Musk has spoken of a desire for a
shift away from climate-wrecking fossil fuels, Texas is known for oil rigs and
gas-guzzling cars and trucks.
"I think he is having a bit of an
identity crisis and forgotten who his customer is, and it is going to come back
to bite him," tech analyst Rob Enderle said of Musk.
"He is drifting to the right; what he
doesn't seem to remember is that most of the people who buy electric cars are
the liberals."
Cybertruck
Giga Texas has been in operation since late
last year. It is the fifth and largest gigafactory cranking out battery packs
and vehicles for Tesla.
Since starting with a car plant in Silicon
Valley, Tesla has gone global with mega-factories in Berlin and Shanghai as
well as in the US states New York and Nevada.
The Austin plant will produce Model 3 and
Model Y cars and eventually a Cybertruck pickup and a semi for hauling cargo
trailers set to go into production next year, according to Edmunds analyst
Jessica Caldwell.
Tesla demand is outstripping supply to the
point that some Model Y and Model 3 cars are being delivered months late in
some parts of the world, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
"The solution is mainly in Austin and
Berlin," Ives said.
Gigafactory Berlin officially opened last
month.
Tesla wants to ramp up production by some
50 percent annually, and should easily top that goal this year, Musk said
recently.
He has delivered more than a million
vehicles during the past 12 months despite production constraints caused by a
global chip shortage plaguing many industries.
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