Tesla Motors expects to buy shuttered Fremont auto plant for $42M in venture with Toyota

Tesla expects to buy shuttered auto plant for $42M

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Tesla Motors Inc. said Thursday it expects to pay about $42 million for a shuttered San Francisco Bay area factory where the company plans to team with Toyota Motor Corp. to build electric cars.

Palo Alto-based Tesla reported the anticipated price tag in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Toyota shut down operations last month at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont, where it had established a joint venture with General Motors Corp. in 1984. Tesla said in the filing that the purchase price included the cost of the land and the facility but not any manufacturing equipment it may acquire from the earlier operation.

The Toyota-Tesla partnership announced last week brought hope to thousands of autoworkers who lost their jobs with the closure of the plant, known as Nummi. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company has already started hiring former Nummi employees.

New workers will be added at a rate of about 50 per month, he said.

Under the companies’ agreement, Toyota will invest $50 million in Tesla following its initial public stock offering.

Tesla plans to use the factory to build its Model S, an electric sedan scheduled to go on sale in 2012. The company expects to build up to 20,000 cars per year.

The Model S is set to have a base price of $57,400 but will be eligible for an $7,500 federal tax credit. Tesla says the car can travel as far as 300 miles on a three- to five-hour charge.