Tesla Gigafactory in Mexico: Everything we know about the world’s largest electric car factory

Andres Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico, confirmed on February 28 Tesla’s intention to build a Gigafactory in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, after reaching an agreement with Elon Musk, who also made the announcement during an Investor Day held at the Texas plant. In doing so, there will be six large factories that the electric vehicle company has scattered around the world, and although it is too early to know all the details, both the country’s president and Tesla’s CEO have revealed a lot of important data. attention. Among them is that the plant will be dedicated to the production of a new generation car.

In fact, it’s not the first time we’ve heard the news that there will be the world’s largest Tesla car factory. Rumors began in June 2022, when electric emphasized that the tycoon confirmed his intention at a meeting with investors build a new gigafactory somewhere in North America. “We are looking at sites, but we are looking at some options more broadly in North America, including Canada and Mexico, as well as the US,” the magnate said.

Later, in December of the same year, Millenniumit turned out that the government of Nuevo Leon is finalizing an agreement with Elon Musk to build a plant in this state. with an initial investment of $800 million to $1,000 million, although they can be as high as $10 billion. “Tesla will arrive in Santa Catarina. In the coming weeks, the investments will be completed, after the end of the year this will be announced, ”the aforementioned publication reported. Interestingly, Musk visited up to three different states before establishing Nuevo Leon as the location for the Tesla Gigafactory in Mexico.

Lopez Obrador and Elon Musk confirm the opening of the Tesla Gigafactory in Mexico

The first official news about the Tesla Gigafactory in Mexico, we repeat, came on February 28 from the President of the country himself. López Obrador confirmed that he had a video call with the Tesla CEO to finalize the agreement and by the way, hand over your worries in the construction of a factory in Nuevo Leonas the state suffers from water scarcity problems.

“He [Elon Musk] He was very receptive, understanding our concerns and accepting our proposals, which will be announced from tomorrow. This will mean significant investment and many jobs. I want to thank Mr. Elon Musk, who was very respectful, considerate and understood the importance of solving the problem of water scarcity.”

Juan Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico.

Later, during Investor Day, Tesla for its part confirmed its intention to build a Gigafactory in Mexico with an initial investment of 5000 million dollars.

Tesla will produce next-generation vehicles at the Gigafactory in Mexico.

Tesla Gigafactory in Mexico, repeat, will be intended for the production of a new generation caralthough there are still no official details about this. However, it’s likely that this is one of two mystery cars that Tesla revealed during Elon Musk’s third master plan, as the company only said these are models that will be announced in the coming years.

From my side, Reform announces Tesla’s Gigafactory in Mexico will be dedicated to manufacturing model 2, which could be the company’s next economic engine; cheaper than even the Model 3. This model has been in Tesla’s plans many times, but the company continues to delay the project.

The aforementioned portal also revealed the dimensions of what will become the largest Tesla factory in the world. The earth in particular with a total area of ​​1200 hectaresalthough only 40 hectares will be allocated for the plant itself, and it will be located in Santa Catarina, a small municipality in Monterey.

Tesla’s Gigafactory is expected create about 6,000 new jobs. It is also highly likely that Musk will implement a new manufacturing strategy at this plant called the Unboxed Process. It consists in assembling all parts of the car on one assembly line, which will make the process more efficient. With the new strategy, Tesla will also not paint those components that are not visible in order to reduce production costs.

This will not be the only Tesla plant in Mexico.

An important detail is that Tesla’s Gigafactory in Mexico will not have a battery factory. However, López Obrador stressed that the electric vehicle company intends to continue investing in the country to build other factories. Among them, one dedicated to the production for the aviation industry, and a factory for the production of batteries.

Gentleman, a state near Mexico City, could be the site of choice for a future battery plant due to its location close to the country’s major airports. The president is, in fact, singled out Reform that “Musk offered to help with scientific and technological developments on the use of lithium, which is in Mexico.”

Tesla will also help the state of Nuevo Leon with water shortage problems.

López Obrador, we repeat, came to convey to Elon Musk his concerns about the Tesla gigafactory in Monterrey due to the lack of water in the state.

As such, the agreement also contains “a number of commitments” to mitigate this issue. Among them, use of recycled water for manufacturing processes that need to use the material, or Tesla’s commitment to water treatment.

“There is a first commitment, which is the use of electric vehicles in the entire production process, the use of recycled water and water treatment, even for car paint, that’s what the plant has to do with it.”