Tesla confirms it has a US Gigafactory location, but won't say where (yet)

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Tesla reported its second-quarter financials on Wednesday, and the big news is the electric carmaker managed a profit even during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, one other big piece of info sits in the financial report: Tesla has made a decision on where to put its next US-based Gigafactory. You know, the one multiple cities vied for that will build the Cybertruck and Model Y. 

The crummy news is Tesla didn't share what city is picked, but the fact the automaker made a decision is pretty big. We know Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Austin, Texas, were the two serious contenders hoping to land the factory. Neither the Oklahoma Department of Commerce nor the Austin mayor's office immediately returned Roadshow's request for comment. Tesla declined to comment further on the decision.

While Tulsa drummed up a lot of attention during the process, such as by painting its famed Golden Driller statue with Tesla CEO Elon Musk's face, Austin in the past few weeks appeared to take the frontrunner status. We know Tesla asked the Texas-based city to pass a chunk of tax breaks, including a break in funding public schools. The measures did, indeed, pass to the tune of $65 million for the electric carmaker. Since actual dollars-and-cents issues made its way to the public, Austin seems like the more obvious choice.

Wherever the Gigafactory goes, the workforce will have its work cut out for it. This new facility will assemble the highly anticipated Cybertruck and handle Model Y production for the eastern part of the US to take some strain off the plant in Fremont, California. Right now, Tesla builds every single car it sells in the California-based facility.

According to past reports, Tesla wants to start production of the new site as soon as this year. The automaker echoed the time frame in its latest financial report and said preparations at the site are already underway. When complete, the facility should create 5,000 new jobs.