Last week, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) purchased a 35 acre parcel next to its factory in Fremont, California, which will give Chris Porritt a space for a test track where he will be able to examine and enhance the electronic vehicles of the future. Chris Porritt was hired by Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) two months ago and is set to become vice president of Vehicle engineering program. Prior to joining Tesla, he was the head of Aston Martin’s Vehicle Engineering team and is the man behind one-77 supercar.
“The land is attached to the Tesla factory property,” said Shanna Hendriks, a spokeswoman for Tesla. “We will use it as we expand our use of the facilities.”
A brief history of the acquired land
Land purchased by Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was a part of the parcel and was owned by the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc (NUMMI), which is the former joint venture factory built by General Motors and Toyota. After shutting down of NUMMI, land was purchased by Union Pacific Railroad, which sold the land to Tesla.
Porritt to supervise Tesla Model S and Model X
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) as of now has not disclosed any plans but is looking forward to purchase more land when the factory expands. CEO Elon Musk earlier mentioned that Model S production will escalate to around 800 cars per week by the end of next year.
Porritt, who will have a new base in Fremont and a new test track, will supervise the development of Model S and will also supervise the Model X Roadster successor and an “affordable Tesla” by 2017.
Fremont facility has been designed for Tesla, and it has a capacity to manufacture more than 400 cars per week.
What analysts feel
Colin Rusch, an analyst with Northland Capital Markets said that he is bullish on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and has set the price target of $230 per share. He added that the Tesla has exhibited its capability to manufacture vehicles in an efficient manner. He further said that the capacity of Tesla facility could be increased to 500,000 vehicles per year with enhancement.
Theodore O’Neill, an analyst with Litchfield Hills Research, said “Having a big test track will improve the ability of engineers to work out the kinks in new vehicles.”
Craig Irwin, an analyst with Wedbush Securities told that he has a “lot of confidence” in Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and its engineers to execute the project well.
