Tesla only opened its newest factory in Austin, Texas in March, but the company is already looking to expand its operations in North America with a new factory in Canada or Mexico.
The plans were revealed by Elon Musk during a company all-hands meeting last week when the CEO was asked by an employee where’s Tesla’s next factory in the US would be located.
Musk responded by saying they haven’t decided on a location yet, but that they are looking at potential sites in Canada and Mexico, according to a report by Electrek.
“We are looking at sites, but we are considering some sites options more broadly in North America, so including Canada and Mexico, and the US as well,” he said.
Not only does the statement confirm the possibility of a Canadian Tesla factory, Musk also confirmed that Tesla is actively looking at potential sites north of the border. However Musk added the company’s priority right now is ramping production at Giga Texas.
“The priority is definitely getting Giga Texas up to volume production and it’s difficult to get to volume production. It is much more important that we get Texas to volume production than to find a new site, but we are looking…,” Musk said.
With news that Tesla is looking to expand into Canada, the question is which province the automaker may set up shop in. The natural choices are Ontario, Quebec, and possibly British Columbia, all of which have strong and established industrial bases.
If it comes to fruition, the investment would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, if not over a billion, meaning local governments will likely offer large incentive packages to lure Tesla to their province, which would create a large number of jobs and boost the tax base.
Do you think Tesla will expand and build a factory in Canada? Let us know in the comments below what you think, and where it might be located.
Tesla Canada’s R&D, Charging, and Manufacturing teams highlighted in new video
Source: Electrek
