Tesla continues to rapidly expand throughout the world, and despite two new gigafactories having opened earlier this year (in Germany and Texas), the automaker’s already looking at where to build next. In the long term, it’s difficult to predict how many production facilities Tesla could build, but CEO Elon Musk has his sights set on […]
Tesla continues to rapidly expand throughout the world, and despite two new gigafactories having opened earlier this year (in Germany and Texas), the automaker’s already looking at where to build next. In the long term, it’s difficult to predict how many production facilities Tesla could build, but CEO Elon Musk has his sights set on a high target — as usual.
At Tesla’s annual stockholder’s meeting, Musk said he thinks the automaker could eventually build as many as 10–12 gigafactories throughout the world. The CEO also mentioned that Tesla could produce up to 20 million electric cars per year by 2030, with each factory outputting between one and a half and two million units per year. Business Insider writes:
“Ultimately we will end up building, I don’t know, probably at least 10 or 12 Gigafactories,” Musk said at the shareholder’s meeting, located at Gigafactory Texas. The locations would “really be Gigafactories,” according to Musk, who has been met with skepticism about his ambitious figures.
Despite the skepticism, Tesla is already looking to establish its next gigafactory and Musk says the location could be announced this year. The news also comes after Tesla made Giga Texas and Giga Berlin fully operational this year, so the move to establish its next factory comes fairly quickly on the heels of those.
At the meeting, Musk also asked stockholders to guess where the next gigafactory would be located. While it’s unclear where the factory will be built as of yet, Musk did give a special note to those who answered Canada.
“I’m getting a lot of Canadas,” Musk said in response.
Tesla eyes Canada for next factory. Video: Reuters/YouTube
Tesla also reached three million cars produced just before the stockholder meeting, announced Musk. He added that Tesla had only produced 3,000 cars a decade ago, adding that the company may be able to reach 100 million cars produced in the next decade.
Currently, Tesla has U.S. factories in Fremont, California; Sparks, Nevada; Buffalo, New York; Austin, Texas; and now others outside the U.S. in China and Germany. Just the Texas, China, and Germany factories are considered automotive gigafactories. To achieve 10–12 gigafactories, Tesla would need to build 6–8 new gigafactories in addition to the one Musk says the automaker could announce this year. (Editor’s note: There’s a grey area here. Some count Tesla’s Buffalo gigafactory in this number even though it’s not an automotive factory, and even the Nevada gigafactory — Gigafactory 1 — might not count if you want to just count gigafactories that build both cars and batteries. I think when Elon says the 10–12 figure he’s talking about will “really be Gigafactories,” he’s counting Giga Shanghai, Giga Austin, and Giga Berlin as the first three. —Zach Shahan)
Compared to legacy automakers, Musk says that Tesla’s manufacturing has a “long-term sustainable advantage” over rivals as the EV industry begins to emerge. Whether Tesla can reach goals of 10–12 gigafactories is yet to be seen, but if the last few years are any indication of the automaker’s future, it’s certainly not out of the question.
Originally published by EVANNEX. By Peter McGuthrie
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