NEVADA Governor signs $335M deal to lure electric carmaker

Associated Press

CARSON CITY, NEV.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval approved a $335 million incentive package to attract upstart electric carmaker Faraday Future’s billion-dollar factory to a hard-hit Las Vegas suburb, even though the company has yet to unveil a concept car or bring a product to market.

The move came shortly after the Legislature voted overwhelmingly to support the deal Saturday, after a four-day special session in Carson City.

Lawmakers learned last week that Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting was backing the secretive California-based company, which employs some former Tesla Motors executives, and that Faraday plans to bring 4,500 direct jobs to Nevada.

“This is a watershed moment,” said Democratic state Sen. Pat Spearman, whose district encompasses part of recession-battered North Las Vegas, where the plant will be built.

The deal comes a little more than a year after state lawmakers approved a $1.3 billion incentive package to land a massive Tesla battery factory outside of Reno. Nevada officials said the deals are reshaping and diversifying the state’s economy after decades of tying its fate to casinos.

Nevada triumphed over California, Louisiana and Georgia in the bid to land the factory.