Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Where I Stand:

Tesla, Faraday can be electrifying for Nevada‘s future

Tesla, Faraday. There is a pattern coming together, and it looks like Nevada could be the pot into which the future of electric travel and electric power is melded.

We all know about the incredible all-electric car that bears the name of pioneering electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. Nevadans also know about Tesla’s under-construction lithium battery plant near Reno that promises to change the way we think about batteries and how we drive our cars and power our homes and businesses with them.

Nevada, the land of mining, gaming and distribution centers that have powered our economy since the latter half of the 20th century, has been moving slowly but inexorably toward the new world economy — that which will light our way well into and through the 21st century.

Ever since UNLV, through Brookings Mountain West and the Lincy Institute, has been turning out “what if” scenarios — what if Nevada did this, how would it pan out, how many jobs would be created, how much better off everyone who lives here would be — it has become increasingly apparent that we can build our futures in the Silver State on more than just gaming and mining. High tech is the answer. That is why every state is pushing STEM education, because turning out science, technology, engineering and math experts not only helps our states grow but helps our country compete against countries around the world that, frankly, are doing a better job in the STEM education area than we are.

The news from Reno about Tesla is old. Now we’ve got news emanating from Southern Nevada that will reinforce this state’s movement toward a high-paying, advanced-technology future.

Some of it comes from North Las Vegas, about a little-known electric car company called Faraday Future, a name that harks back to another electrical pioneer, Michael Faraday. It is looking at North Las Vegas as a potential manufacturing base for affordable electric cars that will be mass-produced in the next three to five years. North Las Vegas is in the running with a handful of other sites because of its central location in the Southwest and, I assume, its proximity to Southern California, which is a large market as well as a gateway to Pacific Rim consumers.

North Las Vegas also is in the running, presumably, because Nevada has shown a willingness to lure large, high-tech employers by offering tax incentives and other sweeteners. If you question what I mean by that, I refer you to the Tesla battery plant.

I know a lot about Tesla. I have been a fan and an owner of a Tesla car for a few gas-free years. It is the real deal, and Elon Musk is the kind of entrepreneur any state should want to accommodate as a leader in high-tech, high-paying and high-impact jobs that will make of Nevada practically an overnight success.

I know little about Faraday Future, except that state economic development and North Las Vegas officials believe what Faraday is proposing makes a great deal of sense for Southern Nevada. So, assuming that Faraday is real and the Apex site — where NLV wants to create the manufacturing zone for the car manufacturer — is doable, the question remains: What do we have to do to get Nevada from being one of four potential sites on the list to the only place standing?

Just look, once again, at Tesla.

Nevada, which perhaps for the first time recognized what it could have if it landed the Tesla battery plant, put on a full-court press. The private sector, the public sector and the Legislature — through a special session called to sweeten the economic pot sufficiently to win the race — all came together in a way that I haven’t seen for three decades and got the job done. It was a lovefest once the stakes became known, with Southern Nevada interests pulling every bit as hard as, or harder than, their Northern counterparts to get the deal done.

Now it may be our turn. As good as Tesla is and will be for the state, Faraday has the potential to dwarf the job creation and economic impact of the battery plant because building the entire car has a significantly more robust multiplier effect. In short, we could be talking about the beginning of a 21st-century, high-tech version of Detroit, where, 100 years ago, Henry Ford decided to mass-produce the Model T.

The special session Gov. Brian Sandoval called to make the deal with Tesla spoke loudly about the need in Nevada for annual sessions. Life changes fast these days, so, unless we want to be forever hoping the governor will call a special session when the need arises, we should consider having lawmakers meet a few months of every year.

If Apple can develop a new phone every six months and Tesla can develop new automotive technology every few months, it seems obvious that this state needs to be in a better position to respond to the opportunities that will most certainly come our way.

I digress. But only long enough to encourage the leaders of Nevada to ascertain the value of a Faraday Future to the future of Nevada and, specifically, Southern Nevada. If it is as real as it sounds, then the governor and the economic development teams — north and south — should pull out all the stops and get the deal done.

The jobs of the future and our success going forward can be inextricably tied to the electrifying names of the past.

Tesla and Faraday, in our beloved gaming parlance, can be a real pair to draw to!

Brian Greenspun is publisher, editor and owner of the Sun.

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