SiliconBeat

Tesla's Model S goes on sale in 2011.

Lost in the hoopla of yesterdays’ unveiling of the Tesla Model S — who expected a 7-seater electric? — was what sounded like pretty final news about the location of the factory that will assemble the car.

In the LA Times, reporter Ken Bensinger said Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would build its all-electric sedan in Southern California.

Musk declined to name the city, but said, “We have a term sheet on a location, but we can’t divulge it until the contract is finalized.”

In an AP story that ran on the Mercury News Web site, Tesla said it would start building the car in the 4th quarter of 2011 “in a yet-to-be determined Southern California location.”

I took a spin recently in Tesla’s first model, the Roadster. Click here for that report.