Around the world, hopeful governments have been waiting all year for Tesla CEO Elon Musk to announce what country will be the site of a new EV-making gigafactory. And now we know: the winner is Santa Catarina, Mexico, according to Bloomberg.
The city is in the state of Nuevo Leon in northeastern Mexico, and is part of the Monterrey metropolitan area. Tesla is still working out the final details with state government, Mexico’s foreign relations ministry and other relevant parties.
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The move is not surprising. Musk was sighted in the area in October, where he met with local authorities. Already, Tesla has a special customs lane for parts crossing into Texas.
Tesla may be able to take advantage of federal tax credits for vehicles assembled in Canada and Mexico. This is part of the Inflation Reduction Act. This act was signed last August and is supposed to provide an incentive for consumers to buy electric vehicles. Depending on where the minerals and battery components come from, the tax credit could be up to $7,500 per vehicle.
Musk announced on January 26 that Tesla would reveal its new factory location before the end of 2022. Well, we’re in the second half of December now, so he really drew out the suspense. Many governments have been courting Tesla, hoping to get a bite of Musk’s plan to produce 20 million vehicles every year by 2030. South Korea, Canada, Indonesia and other countries have all offered up incentives.
Tesla currently has car assembling factories in Austin, Texas, Fremont, California, Shanghai and Berlin. The American plants produce all Tesla models sold, with a combined capacity of about 900,000 vehicles annually. The Shanghai plant produces vehicles for the European and Asian markets. The German plant, which opened in March, will probably eventually take over production for Europe. Shanghai has an annual production capacity of more than 750,000 Teslas, while Germany produces more than 250,000. So, Musk is still about 18,100,00 short of that 20 million goal. We can expect some serious ramping up.
Via The Street
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