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California working to land second Tesla Gigafactory [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The story's been updated to include a response from Tesla. California's film industry has long been big on sequels. Now, the state's government is hoping for a bit of a re-do when it comes to Tesla Motors' future battery production. Whether it happens and if it'll be a big-budget affair remains to be seen. California can supply a "highly-educated" labor force as well as abundant green energy. Some of the state's Congressional leaders have gotten together to contact Elon Musk about being first in line for the site of a potential second Gigafactory, which would likely bring thousands of jobs and substantial economic impact to Tesla's home state, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reports. The leaders are touting the state's skilled workforce and quality of life to Musk. According to a letter from Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) posted on Scribd, California can supply a "highly-educated" labor force as well as abundant green energy, which plays big with the environmentally-minded Musk. "Our focus is on the Gigafactory in Nevada," Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. "However, we continue to consider development of future Gigafactory sites in other states to begin at a later date." Earlier this month, Tesla announced that Nevada won the proverbial sweepstakes for the first Gigafactory, in part by providing about $1.3 billion in various financial incentives. Nevada beat out Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and, of course, California, for the factory. Maybe the Golden State will be able to strike back with number two.

Tesla driver blames 'new car smell' in fatal cyclist crash

According to the accident report compiled by the California Highway Patrol, 63-year-old driver Navindra Kumar Jain fell asleep at the wheel while driving northbound on Highway 1 in Santa Cruz, crossed into the oncoming, southbound lane, crested a small hill and then while doing 55 miles per hour hit a southbound cyclist who was riding on the shoulder. The cyclist, Joshua Alper, died at the scene. Jain was driving a Tesla Model S he had bought ten days earlier and said that the intense new-car smell - which he attempted to counter with a baking-soda scented air freshener - caused him to fall asleep.
The accident happened in November, and after a three-month investigation the Santa Cruz district attorney has decided to charge Jain with "misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter." As you could guess, there are still plenty of unresolved issues. Jain has said he "fell asleep" and there was nothing mechanically wrong with the car he had bought ten days before the incident. His attorney, however, says "he passed out while driving and still does not know what caused the accident," and that the Tesla "and all its component parts" must be thoroughly tested. The CHP tore the Tesla apart, standard practice in manslaughter cases, and, not having found anything amiss, declared the driver at fault. Observers, and especially cyclists, want to know why Jain was only charged with a misdemeanor, and why he hasn't yet been arrested. Some might ask why he didn't just roll down a window.
It will take the courts to decide - that's "courts," plural. In addition to the criminal case, Alper's family is suing Jain and Tesla, appearing to cover its bases with the new-car-smell defense by accusing the Model S of being "defective and unreasonably dangerous when used in a normal, intended and foreseeable manner." That seems like a stretch to us, but it's not like bizarre defenses haven't ever swayed a sentencing before. No matter the verdict in the criminal or civil cases, though, with Joshua Alper gone, nobody wins.

Elon Musk says Model S demand in China could require new plant there

It's not exactly news when Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk talks big, but his prediction that sales of the Model S electric vehicle in China will require the California-based company to build a factory there is pretty substantial. Musk tells Bloomberg News that Tesla's sales in China could equal those in the US as soon as 2015. Could is the operative word here, though, since he backed off a tad by calling his production more "low fidelity" than firm. Still, Musk says demand will be strong enough that a factory in China could become a reality in the near future. Tesla recently set the price for the Model S in China at at about $121,000, which is about a 50-percent price premium compared to the US. And while that sounds steep, the extra cost is actually less than the doubling (relative to US) that usually happens when cars and trucks are imported in China. Looks like Musk wants to sell some cars in the People's Republic. Tesla finished strong in the US last year, moving about 6,900 of its battery-electric Model S sedans during the last three months of 2013. That made it the best-selling US plug-in vehicle during the fourth quarter. We'll be tracking when that same feat is achieved in China.