特斯拉为电池工厂选址 传地方政府开出高达8亿补贴

    特斯拉汽车公司（Tesla Motors）销量庞大的第三代电动汽车要想取得成功，关键将主要取决于它计划斥资50亿美元兴建的锂电池生产工厂能够迅速完工。

    有鉴于此，电动汽车制造商特斯拉计划同时完成至少两个场地的施工前准备工作，直至工厂破土动工。

    特斯拉沟通行销部副总裁西蒙•斯普洛尔说：“时机是我们面临的关键问题。时机是任何延期的保险。”

    特斯拉只有三年时间完成场地评估，与其选择的州或城市谈判达成可赢利的激励方案，完成设计和批准手续，建设工厂，安装设备和批量生产。鉴于所谓的超级工厂（Gigafactory）的规模、物流以及公司需要解决的监管障碍，时间都显得过于紧迫。

    2月26日，特斯拉首次发布了超级工厂的详细信息。它的设计目标是：到2020年，锂电池年生产能力将超过2013年的全球生产能力。特斯拉估计，超级工厂的年生产能力将达到50千兆瓦时，生产的锂电池将用于S型豪华轿车以及为大规模市场开发的价格较低的第三代汽车。据特斯拉估计，到2020年，超级工厂生产的电池将每年满足50万辆电动汽车的供电需求。

    斯普洛尔称：“超级工厂对特斯拉公司的增长极为关键。因此，与整个业务计划中的其他要素一样，时间对我们而言至关重要。”

    到2017年（批量生产的第一年）年末，超级工厂有望使单位千瓦时的锂电池组成本降低30%以上。这个成本降低有助于实现CEO埃隆•穆斯克提出的计划，将汽车售价在S型豪华轿车售价基础上降低50%。目前，S型豪华轿车的起售价为7万美元。

    特斯拉起初表示，它把位于亚利桑那州、德克萨斯州、新墨西哥州和内华达州的四个面积在500至1,000英亩（约合404亩）的地块视为雇佣约6,500名工人的超级工厂潜在的厂址。

    For Tesla Motors (TSLA), the success of its mass-market third-generation electric car hinges largely on the swift completion of its proposed $5 billion lithium-ion battery factory.

    So much so that the electric automaker plans to go through the entire pre-construction process, all the way to breaking ground, in at least two locations simultaneously.

    "The critical path for us is timing," said Simon Sproule, vice president of communications for Tesla. "This is an insurance policy for any delays."

    The company has three years to complete its site review, negotiate a lucrative incentives package with whatever state and municipality it chooses, work through the design and approval process, build the factory, install equipment, and launch production. Considering the size and logistics of its so-called Gigafactory as well as the regulatory hurdles it will have to navigate, time is in short supply.

    On Feb. 26, the electric automaker revealed the first details for its Gigafactory, a massive facility that will be designed to produce more lithium-ion batteries annually by 2020 than were made worldwide in 2013. Tesla estimates that the plant will have the capacity to produce 50 gigawatt hours of battery packs a year, which will be used for its Model S luxury sedan and a cheaper third-generation vehicle intended for the mass market. By 2020, Tesla estimates the facility will be able to make enough batteries to supply 500,000 vehicles a year.

    "The Gigafactory is essential for our growth," Sproule said. "So timing is just as important to us as other components in the total business package."

    The factory is expected to reduce the per-kilowatt-hour cost of its lithium-ion battery packs by more than 30% by the end of 2017, the first year of volume production. That price decrease is necessary for CEO Elon Musk's bid to make a car 50% cheaper than its luxury Model S, which starts at $70,000.

    Tesla initially said it was evaluating 500- to 1,000-acre sites in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada as four potential sites for the factory, which will employ about 6,500 people.