That could have been more than just one of the Tesla boss’s usual quips, public Canadian registry entries show. The lobby registers of the Canadian province of Ontario and the federal authorities in Ottawa, which the Handelsblatt has viewed, show that Tesla may be interested in a production site in Canada.
Tesla is lobbying the Ontario government to build a new factory. This is according to a July 18 Tesla entry in the Canada Provincial Integrity Commissioner’s Lobby Register, first reported by Reuters.
In it, Tesla describes its official goals: It wants to work with the government and its agencies “to identify opportunities for reform of the permitting processes for industrial and/or advanced manufacturing facilities in order to increase Ontario’s competitiveness and its ability to attract capital investment”. .
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In order to be able to compete with “high-growth production sites in North America”, it is necessary to talk about approval periods.
Canada as an electric car location
Canada has big ambitions to become a stronghold for electric vehicles. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has made building electric car manufacturing a core part of his economic strategy.
“Ontario is now on track to become a leading center for electric vehicle manufacturing in North America,” said Ford in a speech Tuesday, ushering in his second term in office. In it, the politician spoke of 16 billion Canadian dollars in investments in the sector.
Canada has big ambitions to become a stronghold for electric vehicles.
(Photo: IMAGO/Political Moments)
The province and Canada’s government have tried in the past to persuade automakers to choose Ontario as a location for the production of electric vehicles with generous subsidies. A five-billion-dollar joint venture between Stellantis and South Korean company LG Energy Solution was recently announced, which plans to build Canada’s first large-scale electric car plant in Windsor.
So far, Tesla has only been pushing ahead with the expansion of the charging infrastructure in Canada. In addition, the electric car maker operates manufacturing equipment in Markham, Ontario, which is used in Tesla gigafactories around the world to manufacture batteries.
At the federal level, Tesla officials and two senior officials met in late June at the office of Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who is responsible for Canada’s auto investment.
Tesla with growth ambitions
It is unclear how far the current talks have progressed and what the scope of the investments could be. However, the documents that have now become known, which are due to the particular transparency of the Canadian lobby register, show that Tesla is examining Canada as a possible location.
In the past, Tesla had regularly held discussions with several potential locations and sounded out the respective political support and possible subsidies before the company decided on the location of a gigafactory. This is what Tesla calls its main production facilities, which combine many work steps under one roof.
Most recently, Musk outlined his expansion plans at the Tesla Annual General Meeting. In a few years, Tesla could operate 12 factories, Musk explained, which would require more new locations. They also want to increase production further. They are currently proud to have produced three million Teslas. “Could you have imagined that ten years ago when we produced 3,000 cars?” Musk asked. This will continue exponentially.
Exactly which car could be built in the further Gigafactory is open. Musk gave no insight into this during the annual general meeting.
The ramp-up of production is currently the biggest challenge for Tesla.
(Photo: Reuters)
In addition to Canada, other possible locations for the new Gigafactory are being discussed among observers: These include Europe and Asia, where Tesla has previously operated a plant. Actually, Tesla is already well positioned with two plants in North America; China in particular, on the other hand, is the Group’s largest growth market. Musk had repeatedly emphasized the good work of the previous plant in Shanghai compared to the other locations.
The plant in Shanghai is also a model for new factories: “The team there is doing a great job,” praised Musk. But employees in Texas and Berlin also worked hard. In Austin in particular, the production ramp-up has recently been significantly delayed.
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Musk shared that Tesla still has a lot of work to do with Giga Texas and Giga Berlin. Both the new Tesla headquarters and the factory in Grünheide near Berlin started production earlier this year. The ramp-up of production is currently the biggest challenge for Tesla.
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