Car news

Tesla revs up for vehicle production at new billion-dollar Texas factory

The Model Y should be rolling off the production line in Texas very soon.

Courtesy of Tesla

The wait is nearly over. Within the next several days, Tesla reportedly will start production of electric vehicles at its new Texas factory, just east of Austin.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities who tracks Tesla, wrote in a January 8 research note that based on the firm’s analysis, “it appears paperwork is now clearing the way for Model Y production starting over the next 7-10 days.” Several media outlets have reported on Ives’ research note.

“Launching the Austin production in early January is very important to Tesla expanding both domestic and global production of Model Ys, which are set to have a massive year in 2022,” Ives writes.

In 2021, Tesla delivered 936,172 vehicles, up 87 percent from the previous year. The vast majority of those vehicles were the almost identical Model Y and Model 3.

Ives anticipates Musk will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Texas factory in the coming weeks. He notes that the plant “is becoming the centerpiece of Tesla’s broader supply ambitions, as well as its formal HQ buildout.”

Construction of the manufacturing plant, dubbed Gigafactory Texas, began in July 2020. Last month, Tesla officially relocated its headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Austin factory.

On December 16, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the $1.1 billion factory would represent a long-term investment of at least $10 billion, generating over 20,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs. Musk previously said the plant would create 5,000 jobs and potentially 10,000 jobs.

The Austin factory is eventually supposed to manufacture three vehicles: the Model Y, a midsize SUV; the Cybertruck, a pickup truck; and the Semi, an 18-wheeler. Musk has said the Model Y should become “the bestselling vehicle of any kind globally.”

Tesla already makes vehicles at its plants in Fremont, California, and Shanghai, China. The automaker’s new factories in Texas and Berlin will enable it to essentially double production capacity, according to Barron’s.

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Coworking News

New coworking space to open in Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood

Office Evolution

A coworking space is opening in Dallas in a central location: Office Evolution, a Louisville-based coworking chain, will open what a release says is a "state-of-the-art coworking space" at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. #360 in Dallas at the southeast corner of Lemmon Avenue.

No details on what makes it state-of-the-art, but construction is ongoing and an opening is anticipated in mid-October.

Office Evolution was founded in 2003 as a shared workspace-coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of "Ohana," the Hawaiian tradition that references family working toward a common goal. (The founder was from Hawaii.)

The company started out in Boulder, Colorado, then relocated its headquarters to Louisville. It's an affiliated brand of United Franchise Group, and is part of The Vast Coworking Group, which specializes in franchising within the coworking industry. All of their locations are franchised.

The Dallas location is owned by franchisee Michael Pickering, a Dallas native who runs a family-owned indoor soccer facility in Dallas. (There are two other Office Evolution locations in the DFW area in McKinney and Southlake, owned by different franchisees.)

They're describing the Dallas location at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. as "Turtle Creek," although its location at Oak Lawn and Lemmon really puts it at the epicenter of Oak Lawn. (To further complicate matters, the building previously and incorrectly described its address as "Uptown.")

It's a seven-story building in which the majority of tenants are doctor and medical offices.

Office Evolution rates include a coworking day pass for $25, plus "flex" office options starting at $200 a month for 20 hours, up to $550 a month for 80 hours.

Amenities of the building that are also accessible to Office Evolution customers include a front desk; a 1,000-square-foot fitness center; covered parking; and on-site security six days a week.

According to a spokesperson, Pickering and his team put $1.2 million into the renovation to transform the space, which occupies most of the fourth floor where it will span 9,240 square feet of space with 41 total offices — one of which is earmarked as an "on-demand office" for the professional on the go.

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