[Obadno]

Well it looks like these are actually going to happen.

These two factories will completely change Casa Grande and likely lead to the mythical linkage of Phoenix and Tucson's metro areas.

https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/...ns-hiring.html

Lucid Motors USA Inc., the Menlo Park, California-based electric car startup looking to compete with Tesla Inc., has submitted a site plan and started hiring for its planned $700 million auto manufacturing facility in Casa Grande.

The Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission approved Lucid’s major site plan and conditional-use permit at its Oct. 3 meeting.

The project's first phase will have two buildings totaling 820,000 square feet and support structures for utilities, waste management, security and storage. Future phases will expand these uses and add a customer experience center.

Lucid will build its facility on 496 acres on the southwest corner of Thornton and Peters roads. The conditional-use permit is for a 10-foot block wall to create a buffer around the existing homes on Peters Road.

Lucid plans to commercially launch its first electric vehicle, the Lucid Air, in 2020. The vehicle, which aims to compete against Tesla's Model S and other luxury vehicles, will have a 400-mile range.

After Lucid first announced plans for its Casa Grande facility in November 2016, the startup received a $1 billion investment from Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to help it produce its first electric cars.

Lucid has more than 20 open positions listed in Casa Grande, including a facilities project manager, metrologist/quality control dimensional manager, senior IT infrastructure project lead and senior manager of human resources.

By 2022, Lucid said it anticipates having more than 2,000 full-time employees working onsite in Casa Grande.

Employees can expect “competitive salaries and meaningful equity,” as well as “providing a community for the brilliant minds who want to make an immediate and significant impact," according to the company

Lucid isn't the only alternative fuel vehicle manufacturer setting up shop in central Arizona. Nikola Motor Co. plans to build a $1 billion, 2,000-job manufacturing plant in Coolidge for its hydrogen-electric semi trucks.

Both Nikola and Lucid are working through applications to receive foreign trade zone status for their planned vehicle manufacturing facilities. The status could save the companies millions of dollars in various tax and customs benefits.