DAVID GREENE, HOST: NPR's business news begins with a change of batteries.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: Tesla announced, yesterday, plans to invest $2 billion to build a large scale battery factory. It's still deciding on a locale, but word has it it will be somewhere in the American southwest. The California-based electric automaker is looking for partners to invest another $3 billion into the factory.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: Tesla is known for its high-end luxury cars. They cost somewhere from $70,000 to $200,000. The company says it needs the factory to produce batteries faster and cheaper in order to build an electric car for mass market - one that can be sold for under $40,000.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: Tesla's stock shot up this week after an endorsement from Consumer Reports, which named the company's Model S the best overall vehicle of 2014.
The company says it needs the factory to produce batteries faster and cheaper in order to build an electric car for mass market — one that can be sold for under $40,000.