California courts Tesla for its battery 'Gigafactory'

California's legislature has another bill on deck that could bolster its chances of becoming the home to Tesla Motor's giant battery plant, and the up to 6,500 jobs it could create.

It already passed another measure earlier this month that could give property tax credits for Tesla to locate its $4 billion to $5 billion battery "Gigafactory" in California, and Gov. Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown signed it into law.

Tesla officials say they are impressed. Even though Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in May that California is a long shot, it has since caught up to finalists Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

"California has reentered the race and closed the gap with the other states," said Tesla spokesman Simon Sproule in an interview Thursday. He says the change has come through the state's efforts to speed up the approval process. "Now, the state has indicated that (it) wants to move as quickly as we need (it) to move."

Speed is essential, he says, because the Gigafactory will produce batteries for Tesla's third electric car model. That car, the Model 3, is aimed at a mass, not luxury, market and won't be feasible unless new, cheaper batteries are ready. The company will need the Gigafactory to make them.

Ever since Tesla announced the finalists for its plant, California's leaders have worked hard to get back in the game.

Earlier this month, Brown signed a bill ostensibly aimed at delivering $420 million in property tax benefits over 15 years to aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in hopes that it would build stealth bombers in the desert north of Los Angeles, but the Los Angeles Times reports that language was inserted to give the same benefits to battery makers.

Now, two state senators, a Democrat and a Republican, are sponsoring an "urgency" bill that would provide additional, unspecified, benefits for Tesla. "This factory would help us achieve the dual goals of strengthening our economy, and fostering clean technology and renewable energy," said the Democrat, Senate Pro Tem President Darrell Steinberg. "California is where this factory belongs."

Other states appear to be courting Tesla just as vigorously. Texas Gov. Rick Perry showed up in California's capital of Sacramento in a Tesla to personally lobby Musk. As reported by the Sacramento Bee, Perry complained of California's "over-taxation, over-regulation and over-litigation." Yet Texas is one of the states that so far refuses to allow Tesla to sell cars directly to the public, instead of going through dealers, critical to its business model.

Little facts like that could prove key to California's bid. Tesla is based in Palo Alto, Calif., and the factory where it makes its electric cars is nearby in Fremont. Brown's economic development officials say they are fully devoted to keeping Tesla.

"Tesla was born in California and currently employs over 6,000 people, making them the largest automotive company in the state," says Brook Taylor, spokesman for the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.

Tesla has not announced a timetable for a decision. Sproule says it could be weeks or month. It was supposed to have come in June, but Sproule says the comeback of California as a contender was not a factor.