While Tesla is hard at work ramping the production capabilities of Gigafactory Texas, the company is reportedly also considering some locations around North America for its next plant. The update was reportedly related by Elon Musk during a company-wide meeting with Tesla workers.
During the meeting, Musk was asked about Tesla’s plans regarding the location of the company’s next US plant. In response, Musk noted that Tesla has not decided on a location yet. He did, however, state that Tesla is looking at sites around North America more broadly, so areas such as Canada and Mexico are not out of the question.
“We are looking at sites, but we are considering some site options more broadly in North America. So including Canada and Mexico, and the US as well,” Musk said, according to EV fan blog Electrek, which reportedly obtained a recording of the company-wide meeting.
Despite this, Musk also clarified that Tesla’s priority, for now, is to ramp Gigafactory Texas. Giga Texas is still very much a work in progress. It should also be noted that the land Tesla acquired for its Texas site spans 2,100 acres (850 hectares), so there is still a ton of space left in the complex that the company could use for its expansion.
“The priority is definitely getting Giga Texas up to volume production, and it’s difficult to get to volume production. It’s much more important that we get (Giga) Texas to volume production than to find a new site, but we are looking,” Musk said.
For now, Gigafactory Texas is busy ramping its production of the Tesla Model Y, a vehicle that Elon Musk believes could eventually be the world’s best-selling car, EV or otherwise. The facility, however, is not only for the Model Y, as other key vehicles like the Cybertruck and perhaps even the Tesla Semi could also be manufactured in the Gigafactory Texas complex.
Elon Musk’s statements in the recent meeting echo his comments from the Q4 and FY 2021 earnings call back in January. When asked about Tesla’s plans for its factories, Musk noted that an announcement for a new facility might be held towards the end of 2022. “We’re not ready to announce any new locations on this call, but we will, through 2022, look at new locations and probably (be able to) announce new locations towards the end of this year,” Musk said.
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