The Leaning Factories 275
nito. Hoping no one would recognize him, he wore a hard
hat, a blue jacket, and plastic safety goggles, and he acted
as inconspicuous as possible.^210
Elon thought the factory would be a perfect match, so
Tesla offered what they budgeted for a smaller factory. A
month later, Toyota accepted the offer, so Tesla purchased
NUMMI in 2010. The price of the factory was $42 million,
and $17 million for the machine tools and spare parts.^195
To avoid confusion, the factory was renamed to the Tesla
Factory.
On the side of the white factory, the word Tesla was
painted with large dark letters. A total of 20 percent of the
space will be dedicated to Model S, and 40 to 50 percent of
all Model S parts are made in-house. In January 2013, the
production in NUMMI reached 400 assembled Model S per
week, or 20 000 per year. The rest of the factory is currently
empty until more models are ready for production. “The
great thing about this place is that it sets us up for the next
generation after the Model S. We could have 250 000 cars
coming out of here in five years,” Elon said.210,332
The Tesla Factory’s interior is mostly white and gray,
including the glossy floor. Because the interior is so large,
you have to use bikes to find your way around. The roof
features windows so real sunlight can light up the factory.
Distinctive from the white interior are the red industrial
robots performing various tasks around the factory, includ-
ing welding different parts together, moving unfinished
cars around the factory, and installing the seats. What the
robots can’t do, the humans have to do while listening to