Tesla is giving ‘Golden Tickets’ to random Model 3 buyers to attend Gigafactory opening

In a not-so-subtle homage to Willy Wonka, Tesla has sent twelve “Golden Tickets” — really, that’s what they’re called — to holders of Model 3 reservations inviting them to attend the Gigafactory grand opening in Reno, Nevada on July 29th. The tickets don’t involve a great glass elevator (probably), but they do include round-trip economy class airfare, transportation, and accommodation in Reno.

A number of Tesla VIPs have already been invited to the party, including Model S owners who referred five buyers to the company, but presumably everyone else needed to pay their own way. The contest, which was first reported by Electrek, was open to the roughly 150,000 people who placed a Model 3 reservation on the first day it was available.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year that the Reno facility, which will produce lithium ion battery packs for Tesla’s cars and other products, will have the largest footprint of any building in the world. If all goes to plan, by 2020, the factory will produce 35 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity each year, more than the entire world’s lithium ion battery production in 2013.