Fremont, Calif. -- U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today attended the formal unveiling of the Tesla Motors factory here, hailing a manufacturing enterprise that will mass-produce electric cars and create hundreds of jobs.

“This factory marks the dawning of a new day for manufacturing in Fremont and the East Bay,” Senator Feinstein said.

“When the old NUMMI plant closed earlier this year, it seemed that manufacturing at this site was headed for extinction. But thanks to the Tesla Motors team, this factory will be creating jobs and building clean energy automobiles that can travel 300 miles per charge without a drop of gasoline.

“This is proof of what’s possible in California. Clean-energy jobs and an electric car – produced here at the new Tesla Factory – will soon be a reality in California.”

After Toyota chose to close down the NUMMI factory in 2009, Senator Feinstein wrote to top Toyota executives in hopes of finding a way to keep the plant open. This effort led to discussions resulting in Tesla Motors and Toyota finding common ground to ensure that manufacturing stayed in Fremont.

Tesla Motors agreed to purchase the NUMMI factory for $42 million in May. Since then, Tesla Motors has hired 70 workers and begun retooling the facility to produce the Tesla Model S sedan.

Production is expected to begin in mid-2012; an estimated 500 workers, including former NUMMI employees, will be hired for this work. Initially about 20,000 vehicles a year are expected to be produced, with the possibility of ramped up production in the future.

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