Tesla Motors, the famous electronic automobile company, will set up its $5 billion battery "Gigafactory" at a site in Nevada, according to several news reports.
Nevada reportedly won the bid to host Tesla's battery plant among several other states that included California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Although an official announcement isn't due until Thursday evening, state officials and inside sources have been leaving subtle hints about Tesla's entry.
"We continue our discussions with the State of Nevada, and look forward to joining the Governor and members of the legislature. More details to come tomorrow," Simon Sproule, vice president of Tesla, said in an e-mailed statement to Forbes.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval took to twitter Wednesday to promote the announcement.
Stay tuned for a major announcement tomorrow at 4PM related to economic development in #NV.
— Governor Sandoval (@GovSandoval) September 3, 2014
Opening up a battery plant in Nevada would give Tesla access to the lithium - a major battery raw material - and would also be closer to its assemble site in Fremont, Calif., The Wall Street Journal notes.
Tesla will reportedly employ 6,500 workers at its plant and the factory is expected to become the largest producer of lithium-ion batteries in the world, eventually manufacturing 35 gigawatt hours of battery cells every year.
The company plans on starting construction as soon as the site is officially announced. Tesla hopes on finishing the building by 2017, in time for its new Model III that will apparently have a 200-mile range and would cost $35,000.
Tesla announced that it would need 500 to 1,000 acres of land to set up its battery base. Solar and wind power functions will also be set up to generate electricity. CEO Elon Musk said in an earlier announcement that the factory will supposedly be super eco-friendly and will have "essentially zero emissions", according to The Verge.
Officials told CNBC that some aspects of the deal are still being negotiated. Musk announced earlier that the host state would need to chip in 10 percent or $500 million of the total project cost. And, as Nevada struggles to shift its focus on industries, the deal will probably be sealed.
