The race is on. Tesla's location scouts have touched down in both Austin and Tulsa, Oklahoma, signaling that the electric vehicle giant is closing in on a decision for where it will build its next massive manufacturing facility — one dedicated entirely to the futuristic Cybertruck.
Austin, already home to Tesla's sprawling Gigafactory Texas along the Colorado River, is once again in serious contention. Landing a second major Tesla facility would represent a seismic win for the region's economy, bringing thousands of construction and permanent manufacturing jobs to Central Texas.
Sources familiar with the search indicate that Tesla's real estate and operations teams have been conducting ground-level assessments across both cities, evaluating infrastructure, available land, workforce pipelines, and tax incentive packages. The competition between Tulsa and Austin is heating up fast.
For Austin, the pitch practically writes itself. The city already has an established Tesla workforce, a booming tech ecosystem, and a local government that has shown a willingness to court major employers. Tulsa, meanwhile, has been aggressively recruiting tech and manufacturing giants in recent years, dangling incentives and positioning itself as a rising industrial hub.
The Cybertruck — Tesla's long-delayed, polarizing stainless-steel pickup — has faced production bottlenecks since its launch, making a dedicated gigafactory a strategic priority for the company as it pushes to scale output and meet surging reservation demand.
No final announcement has been made, and Tesla has not publicly confirmed the site search details. However, the presence of scouts on the ground in both cities strongly suggests a decision could be imminent.
Austin Tech News Live will continue tracking this story as it develops. A second Tesla gigafactory in Austin would cement the city's status as the undisputed capital of American electric vehicle manufacturing.