Tesla to open Texas factory critical to growth ambitions – The Peninsula

Tesla to open Texas factory critical to growth ambitions – The Peninsula

SAN FRANCISCO: Tesla Inc will on Thursday hold an event to mark the opening of its $1.1 billion factory in Texas, which will help ramp up production of electric vehicles and batteries critical to its growth ambitions.

The event, called "Cyber Rodeo", comes after billionaire CEO Elon Musk this week surprised the market by disclosing that he had bought a 9% stake in Twitter and will join the board of the social media platform.

Combined with a new Berlin factory, the Austin factory is expected to double the company's annual production capacity to 2 million vehicles. Tesla said it would also expand production at factories in California and Shanghai. Tesla has said it expects 50% annual increases in deliveries over a multiyear period.

"There will be always be the potential for some hiccups along the way," Morningstar Analyst Seth Goldstein said, adding that Tesla eventually would overcome any ramp-up difficulties as it did with Model 3 production several years ago.

Musk has touted the opening event as the biggest party on earth, but a Travis County fire marshal said that Tesla told the county they’ll likely have fewer than 15,000 attendants.

The invite-only event, which will start at 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, will