Elon Musk has dismissed rumors that Tesla had chosen a Russian city as the site of its next Gigafactory and in the process hinted that Tesla is looking for a new location.
According to Russian media, the country's government acknowledged Tesla would develop its newest production site in Russia. The report was obtained from the website Argumenti.
The report indicates a source in the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the advantages of Korolev are due to "historically concentrated highly qualified personnel who can start working in high-tech production without large financial and time costs for retraining."
Russia's Economy Ministry announced in early August that it would use subsidy programs to boost the manufacturing and purchasing of locally built electric vehicles. This news came after numerous regions around the country petitioned for Tesla to be allowed to enter the country.
Earlier this year, there were speculations of a Russian Gigafactory, but Musk has since acknowledged that Tesla has not decided on an official location for its next factory.
Tesla has not yet decided on a fourth Gigafactory location — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 20, 2021
After Musk announced that the company's entry into Russia was expected, Vladislav Shapsha, the governor of the Kaluga region, told the CEO that his area would be "fully prepared" for a Tesla facility. Other politicians, including Moscow Governor Andrei Vorobyov and Udmurt Republic President Alexander Brechalov, tried to persuade Musk to relocate his company to Russia.
For the time being, the most likely place for Tesla's future facility is probably India, where the carmaker is presently testing vehicles for import. Musk, though, said that Tesla will not commit to creating a factory in India until it verifies demand through imports.
Tesla is currently ramping up production at two new massive factories, the Gigafactory Berlin and the Gigafactory Texas. These two plants are intended to more than treble Tesla's manufacturing capacity.
Musk has previously discussed Tesla constructing a factory in the tri-state area on the east coast in order to tap into the local workforce.
It's unclear if that's still the intention now that Tesla has made a significant investment in Texas, where it will produce a large number of vehicles for the North American market.
They are also the first EV plants created from the ground up by Tesla, after learning from its first experience at Gigafactory Shanghai.
Tesla would already have more electric vehicle production capacity than any other automaker with these three Gigafactories.
