Electric vehicle maker Tesla continues its global push to make EVs available everywhere. This week, Tesla announced that it chose Mexico for the location for its next gigafactory. The new plant will be built in Mexico and join three U.S., one Chinese, and one German facility already in use.
Tesla made the announcement during the Questions and Answers sessions at Wednesday’s Investor Day event. The company announced its Master Plan, Part Three, which included the proposed factory. Monterrey is in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, which borders Texas. Thus, the facility will be located just under 400 miles away from Tesla’s global headquarters in Austin.
Gigafactory Mexico
The Monterrey facility is officially dubbed “Gigafactory Mexico.” Tesla began using the gigafactory appellation when it opened a plant in Nevada, then utilized the term for each subsequent facility, including New York, China, Germany, and Texas. The automaker still builds vehicles at its original plant in Fremont, California, and has smaller facilities scattered around the world. Those factories build automotive parts, battery cells, seats, tool and die casting equipment, megapacks, and other parts.
Tesla’s Mexican investment will cost the company approximately $1 billion, but rise ten-fold before the factory opens. That’s similar to the investment the company has made in Gigafactory Nevada, with a four million square foot expansion on the way. The Nevada plant will handle additional cell production as well as manufacture the Tesla Semi.
Tesla Master Plan
Wednesday’s Master Plan lacked specifics, however, including details about the affordable model proposed for the Mexican plant. Analysts had expected details about the company’s growth, particularly as established players and Chinese upstarts jump in. Instead, CEO Elon Musk and his executives “entertained” with discussions about software, supply chains, and the manufacturing process.
Ultimately, though, Tesla remains firmly well ahead of the competition as it produces more EVs than its domestic competitors combined. Tesla built more than 1.3 million vehicles in 2022, easily outperforming the market and further entrenching themselves in the segment. Tesla still believes that it will “some day” have the capacity to build 20 million EVs annually, but that would be double what the current market leaders, Toyota and Volkswagen, build.
Musk, though, touted environmentalism in his opening remarks. He said, “I really want today to be not only about investors who own Tesla stock but anyone who is an investor in Earth. Earth can move to a sustainable economy and will do so in your lifetime.” Key executives followed with one noting that the company will eventually build electric motors without rare materials. It is those rare earth materials that have wreaked environmental disruption in supplier countries and have also relegated tens of thousands of workers to substandard, even dangerous working conditions.
References
Ewing, Jack (2023, March 1). Tesla Offers a New ‘Master Plan’ but Few Big Revelations. The New York Times.
Service, D. N. (2023, March 2). Tesla offers a new ‘master plan’ but few big revelations. Deccan Herald.
Elliott, R. (2023, March 1). Elon Musk Confirms Mexico Factory Plan in Mapping Out Costly Vision for Tesla. The Wall Street Journal.
Alvarez, S. (2023, March 2). Tesla next-gen powertrain results in rare earth miners’ stock plunge: report. Teslarati.
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Image by Steve Jurvetson, courtesy of Flickr by way of Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0.
