United States: billionaire Elon Musk inaugurates a new Tesla mega-factory in Texas

American entrepreneur Elon Musk inaugurated a new Tesla factory called “Giga Texas” in Austin on Thursday, in a pharaonic atmosphere and decor. The factory covers an area equivalent to a hundred football pitches. It is Tesla’s fifth mega-factory, after those in Nevada, New York, Shanghai and Berlin. Invitations by the thousands, a boss adored by his fans and a nightclub setting: the inauguration of the new Tesla factory in Austin, Thursday, April 7, looked like a star concert, in the now established tradition of Elon Musk, which celebrates the extraordinary growth of his company and its establishment in Texas, far from Californian culture. Cowboy hat and dark glasses, the whimsical billionaire arrived on stage in a convertible in front of a forest of smartphones, to the sound of a piece of rap, to the cheers of the crowd. The live webcast even showed the face of a young woman wiping away a tear of emotion. The event was planned to welcome up to 15,000 people, by invitation only, with, on the program, entertainment, barbecue, open bar, tattoos, music groups, fireworks… Dubbed “Giga Texas”, the plant covers an area equivalent to a hundred football pitches. Operational since the end of 2021, it is Tesla’s fifth “mega-factory”, after those in Nevada, New York, Shanghai and Berlin.>> To read also: “Covid-19: Elon Musk reopens his Tesla factory and puts challenging the American authorities to stop it”The building is”longer than the Burj Khalifa”, assured Elon Musk, in reference to the tallest skyscraper in the world, located in Dubai. “It is the most sophisticated car factory ever seen on Earth,” he added. “Materials go in one side, cars come out the other.” 2023, or the humanoid robot Optimus, which “will do what humans don’t want to do”. “We’ll make sure it doesn’t behave like Terminator,” he joked, referring to a sci-fi movie with a killer robot. The entrepreneur also again promised a “robot- “Completely self-driving taxi.” A big day for Texas “In the immediate term, he has set the factory’s goal of producing 500,000 Model Ys a year.” Tesla has a rich man’s problem: demand exceeds supply Model Ys and some Model 3s are shipping five to six months late in some parts of the world,” said analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities. “The solution is mainly in Austin and Berlin.” Like Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and other California companies that have set their sights on Texas in recent years, Elon Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters to Austin in late 2021. American musician Gary Clark Jr. performs during the grand opening of the new Tesla factory dubbed ‘Giga Texas’ on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas. © Suzanne Cordeiro, AFP “It’s a great day for Texas,” said Courtlan Ross, an Austin native and real estate investor who is looking forward to rising property prices, thanks to the influx of technology companies in his state. The opening of the factory is a “good thing”, also judges Davis Galassini, a young analyst. “I’m quite a fan of Elon Musk. And I think he’s going to bring lots of jobs.” Other residents, however, are worried about the mass arrival of Californian start-ups. “It’s very new. Austin used to be a small provincial town, but it’s different now, it’s become huge,” remarks David Delarosa, a 28-year-old stay-at-home dad. “Identity crisis”Texas is known for its conservative policies – the state made headlines recently for passing a particularly restrictive abortion law – and for its tax incentives: there are no corporate or income taxes. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Tesla received tax breaks valued at more than $60 million to build its mega-factory, which is expected to eventually employ 10,000 people. Texas is also synonymous with oil and big cars polluting. “I think Elon Musk is having a bit of an identity crisis. He forgot who his clients were,” comments independent analyst Rob Enderle. But the South African entrepreneur, who has become the richest man in the world , has a feud with California and Silicon Valley, where he founded Tesla in 2003. In February, the state Democrat sued the factory in Fremont, near San Francisco, for racial discrimination. The site is also known for failed unionization attempts. And in May 2020, at the start of the pandemic, when the authorities refused to immediately reopen this same factory because of health measures, Elon Musk challenged them to come ” stop him.” Hidalgo County, in southern Texas, jumped at the chance, offering to set up operations on its territory. But it was that of Travis, in the suburbs of attractive – and Democratic – Austin, who won the favor of the very courted businessman. With AFP