When it finally comes to market, the Tesla Cybertruck will require a radically different manufacturing approach than the vehicles before it. To make the body of the concept shown last November, Tesla had to score and bend flat sheets of stainless steel into shape - hence the truck's rather unusual, straight, slab-sided appearance.
All this is to say that producing the Cybertruck at the company's existing Palo Alto manufacturing plant is all but out of the question, and Tesla is searching for a new, second location to put a vehicle assembly factory in the US. But where will the EV manufacturer choose to go? Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas believes Texas is the answer.
In a note to investors this week, Jonas outlined the six reasons he believes Tesla's new Cybertruck factory will land in the Lone Star state. Among them: Texas is relatively central to the United States, and while the EV manufacturer has long called California home, that puts people living far away from the west coast at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving their vehicles after ordering. Positioning the Cybertruck factory more toward the geographic middle of the country could help get vehicles out to customers quicker.
Another key advantage Texas holds: a history of automobile manufacturing. The state ranks fourth in the US for automotive manufacturing employment, giving Tesla potential access to a big population of skilled manufacturing professionals that could help churn out a higher quality product. And union representation among that workforce isn't as fervent as in some other locations, due to the state's "Right to Work" laws, keeping labor costs relatively low.
What's more, Texas is even home to a branch of SpaceX - the private aerospace company that Tesla CEO Elon Musk leads. Beside the possibility for "synergies in management time," SpaceX's presence there might be significant for the reason that the Cybertruck is built of the same stainless steel as that company's Starship spacecraft.
On top of all this, Texas is a hot spot for alternative energy, with enough sunshine each year to provide plenty of solar power for Tesla to sustainably run its operations. For a company whose purported mission is sustainable transportation, that counts for something.
And then there's the symbolic gesture of putting an EV manufacturer in Texas - a state known for supplying much of the US's oil and natural gas. The move could send a signal to consumers across the country that the new era is well and truly here.