- Elon Musk is reportedly visiting the U.K., as rumors swirl around a possible Teesside factory site.
- Musk suggests possibility of future Russia factory site during teleconference with students.
- Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg runs into delays ahead of launch, with Musk citing bureaucratic issues.
Construction of Tesla's Berlin-area factory has run into headwinds, but there is already talk of yet another Tesla factory site in Europe, with two countries potentially in the mix.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited the U.K. earlier this week, prompting fresh rumors of a factory site search in a post-Brexit U.K. The Telegraph reported that the U.K.'s Office for Investment had local authorities in the West Midlands prepare bids for a large site on very short notice, with just 48 hours for the task. Teesside, about 25o miles North of London, was reported to be a finalist for Tesla's Gigafactory last time around, one that ended up being built near Berlin, but the U.K. could be in Tesla's sights once again for yet another plant in Europe.
However, with two Gigafactories already under construction, one in Texas and one in Germany, it's not clear whether a new plant in the U.K. would necessarily provide Tesla with the greatest potential for increasing European sales, especially given labor costs in the U.K. and shipping costs to the European mainland. We can certainly think of a few countries next door to Germany with abundant auto industry presence and plenty of land for a new auto plant. So if rumors of a search for a U.K. site are true, the government likely offered Tesla something particularly appetizing on the incentive side.
Elon Musk also sparked rumors of a future Tesla factory footprint a bit further east this week, with his comments to a youth tech event called New Knowledge in Russia, via videoconference.
"I think we're close to establishing Tesla presence in Russia and that would be great," Musk told a large group of students via video link. "And more broadly, also in Kazakhstan and neighboring regions."
"Over time we'll look to have factories in other parts of the world, potentially Russia at some point," Musk added.
His comments were certainly picked up by the press, but demonstrated no particular immediacy of a site search within the country.
While Moscow has one of the world's largest fleets of battery-electric buses and has relied on electric trolleybuses for decades, EVs are still a phenomenon largely confined to Moscow and Saint Peterburg's wealthier suburbs. So a Gigafactory in Russia, while certainly offering lower labor costs than in the EU and vast quantities of inexpensive land, as well as inexpensive shipping to the EU, would be useful largely for export to countries in western Europe where EV adoption rates are higher.
Tesla's Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory has been in the news lately for being behind schedule, prompting calls from Musk for less bureaucratic red tape, and faster action from suppliers.
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Of course, there is also the question of whether building more cars in more places would necessarily bring greater potential for profitability in the near term, with its current vehicle lineup. Tesla's financial results in the first quarter of 2021 ended up being in the black mostly thanks to sales of emissions credits to other automakers, as well as a sale of bitcoin executed months after a purchase of $1.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, the company's sole new vehicle on the horizon is the Cybertruck, production of which is tentatively expected to begin at the end of 2021, or early next year--a model expected to be aimed largely at U.S., rather than Chinese or European buyers.
With Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Texas yet to come online, the latter scheduled to produce the Cybertruck, the automaker appears to have enough on its plate at the moment when it comes to production sites for its current lineup.
Where should Musk build, or should he build at all? Log into the comments and sound off.
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Tesla Eyes Russia and UK for Next Factory, Reports Say - Autoweek
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