Why New Mexico?

David Pogue posts on a new electric car. I won't comment on the merits or demerits of such cars in general or in particular of this new company —  Tesla Motors — but only on this fact:

Tesla is building a factory in New Mexico...

Btw, it's not just a new factory but is the only factory. Fine. But why in New Mexico? Seems like an unlikely spot for an enterprise which — except for its power-plant — will rely on the same supply-chain of parts manufacturers and engineering firms etc etc as does General Motors or Toyota. No? And I don't think many of those enterprises have manufacturing plants or offices in New Mexico. So I wonder why Tesla chose to locate there. Or whether, aside from government subsidies, it will be a wise idea.

Comments

[catnapping]

I can think of a very good reason why they should NOT move a new company to New Mexico...there is no water - certainly not enough to sustain large mammals with pools.

It's immoral to encourage folks to move there.

[Hal O'Brien]

Hm... Sandia Labs? Los Alamos? Intel? They're all large-scale employers in New Mexico, and would all have a pool of electrical engineers who might be enticed to join such a venture.

Steve Baer and Zomeworks have been in New Mexico for a long time. They're too small to be relevant from a talent pool point-of-view, but their viability since 1969 shows New Mexico is open to sustainable industries.

[Mark Mascolino]

In addition to the aforementioned brain power, I bet there are huge tracks of land for not a lot of dough.

[Matt Miller]

Article lists non-union pay. Which is not a minor issue. New Mexico is nicely close to Mexico. Even in Detroit, before the unions, there was cheap labor.