Tesla to 鈥渟trongly consider鈥 building Gigafactory in England
May 24, 2023 by Hugo Griffiths
Car changing is a big deal
Elon Musk鈥檚 comments throw a lifeline of hope following failure of similar projects
Tesla鈥檚 boss, Elon Musk, has said his company will 鈥渟trongly consider鈥 building a vast 鈥楪igafactory鈥 for producing electric-cars and their batteries in England.
Musk told The Wall Street Journal鈥檚 CEO Council that while Tesla is 鈥渘ot currently looking at new locations鈥 for a new factory, the company 鈥渨ill probably towards the end of this year鈥.
Tesla already has five Gigafactories 鈥 the term used for its battery and car manufacturing plants 鈥 operating in the USA, China and Germany. The firm had considered locating 鈥楪iga Berlin鈥 in the UK, but Brexit uncertainty during the planning stages around 2016-18 lead to Germany being chosen.
The UK has a significant need for a UK battery production facility, but some projects have met with more failure than success. The firm Britishvolt had plans to build a vast battery production plant in Wales, but the company went into administration at the start of 2023.
JLR, which owns the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, shows more promise, recently pledging a 拢15 billion investment, with some of the money helping to turn its engine manufacturing centre in Wolverhampton into a battery and motor production facility.
Over on the Continent, European Union and UK leaders are trying to figure out a way to avoid import tariffs on cars utilising battery packs imported from outside the UK and EU.
Nissan, meanwhile, which manufactures the Leaf electric car in Sunderland, recently said that the UK was becoming a challenging environment to operate in due to rising energy costs and complex supply chains.
A source from the UK鈥檚 Department for Business and Trade said: 鈥淲e would be delighted to show Elon and Tesla all the many benefits of establishing a gigafactory in this country鈥, adding that 鈥渢he UK remains an attractive destination for advanced industries to locate and grow their businesses.鈥