Tesla recently announced that it will build its European Gigafactory in Germany, near Berlin’s airport, and its CEO explained why they chose that site.
Speaking with Auto Express after the announcement, Elon Musk said that there was a good reason Great Britain wasn’t considered for their new plant: “Brexit [uncertainty] made it too risky to put a Gigafactory in the UK,” he said.
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Apart from the new manufacturing plant, Tesla is also going to establish a Research and Development center in Germany. Back in 2014 Musk said that they were planning to build it in the UK, but apparently those plans were ditched.
UK’s decision to walk out of the European Union has forced automakers with plants in the country to seriously reconsider the future of their operations in the country. Honda has already announced the closure of its Swindon plant in 2021, Nissan and PSA said that they will shut down their factories in case of a no-deal Brexit, while Ford has proposed the closure of its engine plant by late 2020.
“Some of the best cars in the world are obviously made in Germany,” Musk said while accepting an award for the Tesla Model 3. The new Gigafactory will be producing batteries, powertrains and of course cars, starting with the upcoming Model Y SUV; the Model 3 is expected to follow on a later date.
The new manufacturing facility will be Tesla’s fourth Gigafactory, after its two plants in the USA and the one in Shanghai, China.