AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- An estimated 15,000 people celebrated the grand opening of Tesla's newest Gigafactory in southeast Travis County Thursday night.
The invitation-only VIP event featured live music, food, tours of the $1.1 billion plant, and a 20-minute fireworks show. Despite the limited access, plenty of fans of the electric automaker lined the plant site along State Highway 130 hoping to get in - or at least a glimpse of the party atmosphere.
CEO Elon Musk drove onto the event stage shortly after 9 p.m., touting the company's expansion and its plans for the future.
"Why Austin? California's great and we were continuing to expand there, but we ran out of room," said Musk. "We need a place where we can be really big, and there's no place like Texas."
Musk touted the size of the building, which he said is the largest factory building in the world by volume - more than three times the size of the Pentagon.
"This building is the most advanced car factory that Earth’s ever seen,” announced Elon Musk. “What I can say is we’re gonna move to truly massive scale — scale that no company has ever achieved in the history of humanity. That has to happen to transition the world to sustainable energy. Massive scale."
Tesla is expected to hire at least 5,000 people, with Musk saying the site has potential for up to 10,000 jobs - all with a starting salary of $35,000. The plant is also expected to indirectly create thousands of additional jobs, as supporting businesses build up around the plant.