Tesla boss, Elon Musk, has said that the firm will ‘strongly consider’ the UK for their new gigafactories which are planned to be built later this year.
The electric car company has been thinking about using a new location to build their battery factories and Musk’s comments are likely to set off an influx of campaigning from governments around the world to secure the investment.
At a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event in London this week, Musk said:
“I will strongly consider England for a future location of a gigafactory.
“We are not currently looking at new locations but we will probably towards the end of this year.”
This announcement comes after the notice that Tata Motors were closing in on a deal with the UK government to secure funding for a new gigafactory in Somerset. The UK government offered an incentive of £500m in subsidies, from the £1bn automotive transformation grant, to Tata to build the factory. It is possible that governments around the world will do the same in attempts to secure Tesla’s investment of a new gigafactory.
A Department for Business and Trade source told The Telegraph:
“We would be delighted to show Elon and Tesla all the many benefits of establishing a gigafactory in this country.
“Importantly, this shows that with our skills base, infrastructure, and excellent supply chain, the UK remains an attractive destination for advanced industries to locate and grow their businesses.”
The construction of a new gigafactory in the UK would be a massive advancement for EV battery production in the UK and would bring a huge amount of jobs. However, the gigafactory race currently seems to stand mainly between London and Paris after president Emmanuel Macron recently had a high-profile meeting with the CEO, in which he promised to look at potential investments in France.
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