SAN ANTONIO — A pair of executives from Tesla Motors Inc., the electric carmaker that's scouting a location for its planned $5 billion “gigafactory,” secretly met here Wednesday with top city and county officials, a person close to the discussion said.

The meeting came less than a week after the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation submitted a proposal to the Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer for the factory, which will produce lithium-ion batteries for Tesla vehicles and battery storage units for use in homes, commercial sites and utilities.

While details of what local officials offered Tesla weren't available, the proposal included a separate section for CPS Energy, positioning the city-owned utility as a potential partner for the company.

“It appears San Antonio is back in the game for the project,” the source said, acknowledging the city's chances had seemed to be remote — until recently.

The two executives — both part of a site-selection process that's examining locations in Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico — talked in the morning with Mayor Julián Castro, County Judge Nelson Wolff and CPS chief executive Doyle Beneby.

Rene Dominguez, the city's economic development director, and David Marquez, who heads economic development for Bexar County, also were involved in the discussions.

The Tesla officials, who were spotted at City Hall before lunch, visited a potential factory site in San Antonio on Wednesday afternoon.

A Tesla plant, which the company wants producing battery packs within three years, would need between 500 and 1,000 acres with 10 million square feet of production space. The factory would create 6,500 jobs.

The company has said that with its partners, it plans to produce 500,000 lithium-ion batteries annually by 2020.

Late Tuesday, Castro used Twitter and Facebook to stake out his position on a state law that prohibits Tesla from selling its all-electric vehicles directly to Texas customers.

“Today, Tesla is prohibited from selling its cars directly to consumers in Texas. State law requires that they be sold through a dealer. I respect our state's auto dealers, but that law ought to change,” Castro wrote on Facebook. “That's like telling Apple it can't sell its products at an Apple Store but has to sell them through Best Buy or Walmart instead. Makes no sense.”

In a Wednesday interview, he said he agreed with Gov. Rick Perry that the law should be changed. Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, confirmed Perry has no plans to call a special session to address the issue.

It's unclear whether that's a deal breaker for Tesla. Arizona lawmakers currently are deliberating changes there that would allow Tesla to circumvent dealerships and sell directly to the public.

Castro declined to say whether he has ever spoken with Tesla representatives about locating here and would not confirm or deny that they were in San Antonio on Wednesday. It's unlikely, though, that he would unnecessarily prod car dealers, who have deep pockets and a strong political lobby.

Castro's foray into the issue signals that San Antonio is pushing its way into Tesla's cross hairs. During his tenure, the mayor has outlined his vision for the “new-energy economy” in San Antonio.

His predecessor, Mayor Phil Hardberger sparked the green economy in San Antonio, but it was Castro who made it real.

And at CPS, Beneby has implemented it. The utility signed a deal in 2012 with OCI Solar Power to bring 400 megawatts to San Antonio. That project brought a multimillion-dollar investment here and hundreds of good-paying jobs.

And if Tesla ultimately chooses Texas — and San Antonio — it will be for a number of reasons, including CPS Energy's robust solar profile.

The ability to offer green electricity to a company making electric cars could be a marketing boon. But more importantly, as a Tesla partner, CPS also would be able to serve as a test market for the company's products.

jbaugh@express-news.net

gjefferson@express-news.net