Tesla CEO favours Gigafactory in Germany

Elon Musk has taken to Twitter – no surprises here – to add some detail to plans for a Gigafactory in Europe. And – here’s the surprise – he named Germany as a “leading choice” mainly due to its location in the centre of Europe.

In concrete terms Musk added that a Gigafactory close to “the German-French border makes sense, near the Benelux countries,” Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

++ Kindly find an update on the discussion below this article. ++

The position in central Europe would also bring the Tesla battery factory close to their assembly facility in Dutch Tilburg. Furthermore, the now subsidiary Grohmann Automation would not be far either so that Tesla could start making whole electric vehicles in Europe.

Germany is a leading choice for Europe. Perhaps on the German-French border makes sense, near the Benelux countries

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 19, 2018

As you can see from the tweet above, Musk had reacted to a question from a Swiss shareholder so it remains to be seen, how fixed these plans are. However, the Tesla CEO is also known for standing by his words, no matter how improbable they had seemed at first.

If Tesla would opt to build a Gigafactory in Germany it would be a rather loud call to arms for the local car industry, that much is certain. A battery supply agreement seems a little far off.

Update: Since Musk made his announcement on Twitter, the state of Saarland has actively tried to get the attention of the Tesla CEO. A tweet by the minister remained without reply though and so Tobias Hans announced he would send a letter, stating the Saarland’s interest to host the German Gigafactory more formally.

teslarati.com, electrek.co, lessentiel.lu (Saarland, in German)