Tulsa mayor says he’ll buy Tesla trucks for police if Tesla picks his city for a plant

The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is using anything he can to entice Tesla to build its next factory there.

In a tweet to Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said it would “only be right” to buy local if the carmaker set up shop in his city. He paired his tweet with a sleek rendering of Tesla’s Cybertruck as a Tulsa police squad car according to a report by Business Insider.

Last week, company representatives scoped out Tulsa and Austin, Texas, as candidates for Tesla’s fifth factory, The Verge reported. The factory will eventually produce the company’s Model Y and Cybertruck. Musk has previously hinted on Twitter that the company is scouting locations.

Musk told investors on an April 29 call that its decision would be made in the next three months and as soon May.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Bynum said he couldn’t comment on the negotiations but continued to court Tesla.

“While I cannot comment on potential projects, it is clear that Tesla and Tulsa were forged in the same spirit,” he said. “Both founded by pioneers who dreamt big and made it happen. Both trying to change the world with a new kind of energy. Both investing big in what matters most: people. Tulsa is a city that doesn’t stifle entrepreneurs — we revere them. And as Tesla continues to rapidly change transportation all around the world, I can’t imagine a better place for them to further that important work than Green Country.”

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said that with names so similar, Tulsa should be the obvious choice for Tesla.

“To the press, we can’t comment on any pending proposals,” Stitt said, according to local media. “To (Tesla CEO) Elon Musk and Tesla, the people of Oklahoma love our trucks, we love our rockets and we would love to partner with you here in our great state. As a Tulsan myself, I can tell you that confusing the names Tulsa and Tesla has happened more than once, so it would only be appropriate to have a Tesla factory right here.”

The police rendering is far from the only way digital creatives on the internet have envisioned Tesla’s Cybertruck, which Musk debuted in 2019 with an unexpected glass-breaking event. Renditions of the truck as an RV base, race car, and more have popped up.

Source: Business Insider