Tesla looking to build Gigafactory in Europe: report
Tesla has held talks with European government officials to build its first major factory in the region, according to a report Monday.
The electric car maker is looking to build a Gigafactory in Europe that would produce both vehicles and batteries under one roof, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited officials involved in the talks. The report said Tesla has had discussions with Germany and the Netherlands.
The talks are preliminary and may not lead to an agreement to build a plant, according to the Journal.
Tesla declined to comment on the report.
Tesla currently builds all of its vehicles at a factory in Fremont, California. It also produces batteries at its Gigafactory in Nevada.
A new factory in Europe would be the latest step in Tesla’s plans to expand its global footprint. The company announced earlier this month that it reached a deal with the Shanghai government to build its first plant in China. The facility will have a capacity of 500,000 vehicles per year, according to Tesla.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the manufacturer may announce the location of a factory in Europe by the end of the year. In a post on Twitter in June, he called Germany a “leading choice.”
Tesla already does some work on vehicles in the Netherlands, where the company has an assembly facility that prepares U.S.-built vehicles for delivery to local customers.