CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada economic officials say work on a massive Tesla battery factory east of Reno is going smoothly and should be operational within a year.
Governor's Office of Economic Development director Steve Hill told Nevada lawmakers during an interim meeting on Thursday that progress on the $5 billion factory was going slightly quicker than the company expected.
Hill said that the electric car company has hired more than 740 construction workers since it started the building process in October 2014. In a report issued to lawmakers, Tesla reported spending more than $140 million on the project so far.
Nevada won a bidding war with other states in attracting Tesla Motors to the state in 2014 by extending a record $1.3 billion in tax incentives to the electric car manufacturer.