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NUMMI Is Back, Tesla Officially Presents Model S Factory

As announced yesterday, American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla presented to the public a huge... Tesla sign which adorns the entry in the New United Motor Manufacturing (NUMMI) facility.

The sign outside the plant marked the first public admission into the facility which closed on April 1 this year, after Tesla and Toyota agreed to work together and get the facility in tip-top shape to receive the Model S.

"This is a momentous day in Tesla history, turning our advanced electric vehicle technology into a mass manufacturing reality," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said. "Model S is blazing a new trail for the industry and it will all happen right here, the Tesla Factory gives us plenty of room to grow."

Inside the plant, Tesla is currently installing its own assembly lines, after the ones used by Toyota were removed. Tesla will build here 10,000 Model S vehicles in the first year of production (starting sometime in 2011, considering that the model will be entering the market in 2012) and raise that target to 20,000 for the next years. In the future, a second model may be added by Tesla to the production queue.

"Everything we learn from the model S subsequently we're going to use on the third-generation car,” Tesla executive Ricardo Reyes added. “What we're going to try and do is increase the production and decrease the price of electric vehicles,"

As for the workforce, Tesla will eventually hire around 1,200 people, and will do so probably by using the huge pool of unemployed NUMMI workers which were laid off earlier this year. So far, only 70 people have been hired.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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