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California working to land second Tesla Gigafactory [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The story's been updated to include a response from Tesla. California's film industry has long been big on sequels. Now, the state's government is hoping for a bit of a re-do when it comes to Tesla Motors' future battery production. Whether it happens and if it'll be a big-budget affair remains to be seen. California can supply a "highly-educated" labor force as well as abundant green energy. Some of the state's Congressional leaders have gotten together to contact Elon Musk about being first in line for the site of a potential second Gigafactory, which would likely bring thousands of jobs and substantial economic impact to Tesla's home state, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reports. The leaders are touting the state's skilled workforce and quality of life to Musk. According to a letter from Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) posted on Scribd, California can supply a "highly-educated" labor force as well as abundant green energy, which plays big with the environmentally-minded Musk. "Our focus is on the Gigafactory in Nevada," Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. "However, we continue to consider development of future Gigafactory sites in other states to begin at a later date." Earlier this month, Tesla announced that Nevada won the proverbial sweepstakes for the first Gigafactory, in part by providing about $1.3 billion in various financial incentives. Nevada beat out Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and, of course, California, for the factory. Maybe the Golden State will be able to strike back with number two.

Tesla tidbits: Roadster getting 'exciting' upgrade in 2014

It's been quite a while since we've had news about the Tesla Roadster. The original Tesla electric vehicle hasn't been sold in the US for years and we're in a quiet period before the next-generation shows its face. We were fine with the status quo – it's not like Tesla Motors isn't keeping busy with other projects in the meantime – but something that CEO Elon Musk said during the annual shareholder meeting caught our eye this week: the Roadster will get some sort of update before the end of the year. Details were obviously not disclosed, but Musk did say that something cool is coming: We are planning on I think a fairly exciting upgrade to the Roadster. I'm hoping we can get it done later this year. I did say it would be this year and ... yes, we will get it done this year. ... So, we're going to do something cool with Roadster before the end of this year. Anyone want to guess what this upgrade might be? We know that Roadster batteries are performing better than expected, so we're going to discount that possibility that these older EVs will be made compatible with Tesla's Supercharger technology. But Musk did say at the meeting that this tech is available to other automakers, if they could somehow make an EV that can handle the Supercharger's 135-kW output (a number that Tesla hopes to increase in the future): There is no other electric car that can accept anything close to 135 kilowatts. We are more than happy to have other manufacturers do this. And I've said this publicly on a few occasions. No one's approached us and said they'd like to use it. We are happy to have them do so. They just have to contribute to the capital cost, so figure out what percentage of the time are their cars using the Supercharger network and then they can make a contribution proportionate to their customer usage of the Supercharger network. So, we're very open to such a thing. Musk also confirmed he is open to remaining at Tesla for another half decade or so, until at least when the company's lower-cost, third-generation car gets to "volume production." He said that's maybe four or five years away and that there is "a lot of time" to figure out who will replace him when he does finally step down. We know the car is not going to be the Model E (thanks to Ford's trademark, Musk said) and that the company's targets are for it to cost around $35,000 before incentives and have a range of more than 200 miles.

Audi E-Tron vs. Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X: How they compare on paper

The all-electric crossover segment is suddenly heating up. Tesla was first to market with its Model X, and the California-based automaker has a several-year head start on the rest of the field. But now it has competition, with the Jaguar I-Pace already hitting dealerships across the globe and the just-announced Audi E-Tron hot on their heels. We decided to see how Audi's new entrant compares with its British and American rivals, so we downloaded their spec sheets (at least those that are available) and dumped them all into the spreadsheet you see below. As you'll soon find out, there are lots of similarities between these three electric crossovers, but each has a unique selling point or two with which to entice buyers. View 24 Photos Performance Note that we're using the Tesla Model X 75D for this comparison, since that's the model that is closest in price to the Jaguar and Audi entries. If you really want the fastest and most powerful electric CUV available, you're going to want to look at Tesla's ludicrous P100D model, but you'd better be willing to just about double the price you see in the chart above. With that out of the way, these particular electric crossovers are all pretty quick. The Jaguar boasts the quickest 0-60 time, but in the real world, that half-second advantage over the 75D won't amount to much. The Audi is a full second behind the Jaguar, and a little over a half second slower to 60 than the Tesla. A 5.5-second 0-60 time, though, still means the E-Tron will be able to squirt away from traffic lights quicker than the rest of the morning commuters. As far as battery capacity, Audi leads the way with 95 kWh, which is 5 more than the Jag and a whopping 20 more than the Tesla. Until we get estimated range figures, though, we won't know what the extra capacity means in the real world. In other words, stay tuned. View 74 Photos Exterior and interior dimensions The Jaguar is the smallest of these three 'utes, inside and out. The Tesla Model X is the largest. Does that make the Audi just right? Maybe, but only if you don't need a third row — the Model X is the only one of this trio that offers seating for six or seven passengers (depending on whether the buyer opts for a second-row bench or individual chairs). A smaller size may be a boon for drivers who often have to fit into tight spaces, but those slinky dimensions mean the Jaguar's cargo capacity is well behind that of the Audi and not even close to the cavernous Tesla. Tesla Motors Inc.