Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced at the company’s annual Shareholder Meeting earlier today that the automaker could announce its plans for its next Gigafactory location this year.
During a speech at the company’s Cyber Roundup at Gigafactory Texas, Musk talked in-depth about the company’s automotive production facilities.
Tesla has opened two new production plants this year: one in Brandenburg, Germany, near Berlin, and another just outside Austin, Texas City Limits. The two plants are building Model Y configurations, with Gigafactory Texas utilizing Tesla’s new 4680 battery cells in some of the production models that have been shipped to customers.
For several years, Musk has said Tesla will build more Gigafactories but has not talked in too much detail regarding their potential locations. There were rumors regarding a second Gigafactory in China, and a few years ago, Musk said that another production facility could end up in the Northeastern United States. However, Tesla was in deep discussions with India, but the two parties could not come to an agreement regarding a reduction in import duties from the government and a firm commitment to build a plant in the country from Tesla.
Tesla places its India entry on hold after failing to secure lower import taxes: report
Musk stated during a speech at the Cyber Roundup that Tesla “might announce the next Gigafactory location” by the end of 2022.
Interestingly, Musk seemed to hint that he is undecided on the location, allowing audience members to shout out suggestions. For what it’s worth, Musk did say the most heard suggestion was Canada.
Musk also stated Tesla would be building between 10 and 12 Gigafactories to accomplish its goals, with each factory being capable of building between 1.5 and 2 million units annually.
