Tesla to build its next Gigafactory in Europe

Tesla Motors’ CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company’s next Gigafactory production plant will be built in Europe, with the exact location being decided upon next year.

Musk confirmed the plans at a press conference in Germany yesterday, after he announced Tesla's acquisition of Grohmann engineering - a German automated production technology firm - electric vehicle.

Tesla hopes that its buyout of Grohmann Engineering will accelerate its manufacturing technologies as it prepares to put the Model 3 saloon into production. Although Musk said that no location for the European factory will be decided upon until next year, it seems logical that somewhere near the Grohmann site will at least be considered an option, as it becomes the largest centre for Tesla's European operations.

At the press conference, Musk further hinted at Tesla's European ambitions, stating that the brand is planning "significant investments" in Germany.

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Grohmann Engineering – soon to be Tesla Grohmann Automation - is based in Prüm, Germany, and specialises in automated manufacturing technology. Tesla says that the acquisition of the company should accelerate its production processes as “the factory becomes more of a product than the product itself”.

Tesla plans to use the Prüm centre as a hub for its factory developments, although no vehicles will be produced at the centre. A total of 1000 jobs will be created in Prüm in the next two years, with Tesla planning to expand the centre in the near future. The developments in robotic car production which come from Prüm will be used in Tesla’s existing factory in Fremont, California.

A Tesla spokesman said that new cars will not be produced at the Grohmann plant, suggesting that this would not be the location for a European-based plant in the short-term future.

Tesla hopes that opening more factories – previously speculated to be in India too and Europe following Tesla’s US-based manufacturing plants – will create greater economies of scale in its production process, which will ultimately drive vehicle prices down.

Tesla needs to do this in order to produce more cars like the upcoming Model 3, which will be its cheapest model as well as its best-selling, having already racked up several hundred thousand pre-orders. The Tesla spokesman said that the automation that Grohmann deals with is “critical to reach those economies of scale”.

Source: Autocar UK