Tesla Close to Choosing European Gigafactory Location

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Tesla Motors Incorporated (NASDAQ:TSLA) (Palo Alto, California) is in the "the final stages" of selecting a site for a European Gigafactory to build electric vehicles (EVs) .

The company has delayed a decision for two years now but has confirmed to shareholders in a quarterly update: "We are in the final stages of our site selection process. Our European Gigafactory is expected to produce both Model 3 and Model Y." This follows on from a shareholder letter last quarter that stated: "We are also accelerating our European Gigafactory efforts and are hoping to finalise a location choice in the coming quarters."

As part of the company's third-quarter 2019 earnings report Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said that the company will announce a location by the end of the year. Musk has said that construction will be underway in 12-18 months, with full commissioning by 2021. Industrial Info is closely tracking the proposed projects, including the company's initial scoping for a potential $6.2 billion plant for a battery and EV manufacturing plant in the Alentejo region of Portugal. It has also tipped Germany as a possible location for a Gigafactory to secure a strong European foothold for its car and battery range. Local German politicians have said that the company has been looking closely at the Lower Saxony region.

In European car sales figures for September, Tesla came close to becoming the first electric car maker to break into to Europe's top 10. According to JATO figures, 17,505 Model 3s were delivered in Europe in September, missing the No. 10 slot by just 217 units.

There are a growing number of significant EV battery plant projects in Sweden, Poland, Hungary and Germany currently being tracked by Industrial Info. The largest confirmed project under way is the Northvolt AB project in Skelleftea, Sweden, to produce 8 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery capacity starting in 2020. Three additional expansion projects are planned to boost production to 32 GWh by 2023. Volkswagen AG, which has revealed the most ambitious EV plans of any European carmaker, is seeking permission for its own gigafactory on a 690-acre site in Salzgitter, Germany, where a pilot battery production operation is underway. The project could cost up to $11.3 billion.

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