Tesla lured with big bucks to build Cybertruck factory

Tesla has yet to decide where the Cybertruck ute will be built in the USA. Photo: Tesla

A small American city is trying to shift Tesla manufacturing of the Cybertruck there with the lure of big money.

The city of Joplin, near Missouri’s borders with Oklahoma and Kansas, is tempting the electric carmaker with US$1 billion (NZ$1.6b) in incentives and savings to build a new factory for its futuristic Cybertruck, according to Automotive News.

Joplin is offering Tesla a 1042 acre (421hectare) site at a 50 per cent discount, according to a website it’s built to court the company led by billionaire Elon Musk. It’s also coaxing the carmaker with 100 per cent tax abatement for 12 years plus various other tax breaks and incentives.

The manufacturing plant could employ up to 7000 people.

The city, which is home to a pair of industrial-battery production facilities, has taken its campaign directly to Musk, with Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce President Toby Teeter appealing to the CEO Monday on Twitter. Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment on Joplin’s proposal.

"Tesla is looking for a new location somewhere in the Midwest for a gigafactory," Teeter said at a City Hall briefing. "Approximately a week ago the city of Joplin and the Chamber of Commerce put a formal bid together and submitted it to Tesla corporate." 

Gigafactory is a word Tesla founder Elon Musk made up to describe the giant size of the plant he intends to build the Cybertruck.

Musk said in a March 10 tweet that Tesla was scouting locations to build the Cybertruck somewhere in the central U.S. In addition to producing the still in-development pickup, the CEO said the factory would make Model Y crossovers for customers on the East Coast.

Part of Joplin’s appeal is cheaper labour. Joplin says Tesla will be able to save US$75 million (NZ$117m) annually on payroll compared with the manufacturing and engineering wages paid in those other markets, says Automotive News.