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A California maker of high-performance electric sports cars looks likely to locate a manufacturing plant in Albuquerque.

Melissa Milam, public information officer for the state Economic Development Department, said this morning she was drafting a news release to announce that the state had secured the plant.

But she said later the state would not release any news today and instead offered a statement from state Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans:

"The policy of the Economic Development Department is not to confirm or deny that we are engaged in discussions with any company about potential relocation or expansion to New Mexico. If such discussions were taking place and they evolved into an official agreement, at that point in time we would join with the company to make a public announcement and to provide details of the agreement."

Tesla Motors of San Carlos, Calif., is looking for a site to build a four-door electric sports sedan it calls "White Star" and has narrowed its search to Albuquerque and the Bay Area city of Pittsburg, Calif., according to a report in the Contra Costa (Calif.) Times.

Officials from the company couldn't be reached this morning.

A company representative told The Tribune by e-mail this week that Albuquerque is only one of the locations the company is considering and a decision is expected "in the next month or so."

Charles Wollman, a spokesman for the New Mexico State Investment Council, said the company contacted the state about a potential investment and the state is evaluating the opportunity.

"They're feeling us out, and we're assessing what the possibilities are," Wollman said. "It's really pretty preliminary."

Tesla, founded in 2003, employs about 140 people in California, Michigan, the United Kingdom and Taiwan, according to the company's Web site.

The company's first car, the Tesla Roadster, is being assembled in England with deliveries expected this summer, the Web site states. The Roadster can reach 130 mph, run from 0-60 mph in four seconds, and is powered by a lithium-ion battery system that gets 250 miles per charge, the company Web site states.