Gigafactory Spain in Talks?
Something strange is happening in Spain.
On June 8th, a report was published by news outlet Reuters that claimed their sources had discovered that Tesla was in talks with the government of Valencia, Spain to make a €4.5 billion ($4.8 billion) investment. In other words, Tesla was negotiating to put a new gigafactory in Valencia.
But here’s the thing: The Valencian government refused to officially comment about the identity of the company, and Tesla wouldn’t comment at all.
On paper it certainly makes sense - Spain is just as open to attracting a company like Tesla as Indonesia or India is - and even though the EV company announced a new Gigafactory in Mexico during their Investor’s Day Event on March 1st, CEO Elon Musk has made comments about picking another Gigafactory location by year’s end.
Now, there are three markets that Tesla has really been trying to grow in: North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Tesla’s already got a fairly large North American presence, so rumours of a Canadian gigafactory seem pretty thin compared to any other locations.
Indonesia and India have been the rumoured locations for a potential gigafactory in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia making some very enticing offers regarding both land, and their nickel deposits - and Tesla actively approaching India in an attempt to find a solution to that country’s draconian tariffs.
And as for Europe, the only buzz we’ve had really was that Elon visited Versailles to speak with French officials about a potential investment in that country. But with France’s history of strong labour movements, maybe Tesla is looking to Spain as a friendlier alternative to expand their holdings in Europe?
The problem with saying anything definitively is that this deal with Spain could really be with any company. Reports are that several other automakers have been in talks with Spain recently - including Tesla rival Volkswagen.
All we really have to go off of here is the Reuters report and, well, that’s not really enough to be definitive. The only thing that makes a European gigafactory seem more likely than the other locations is that - like with the US and their Inflation Reduction Act - the EU has a pandemic recovery fund that Spain has been using to invest in automakers specifically.
All that aside though, we are closing in on the halfway point of the year - which means that Elon’s second gigafactory announcement has to be coming soon. And with how tight-lipped everyone is being, we’re probably going to be surprised by the choice - whatever it will be.