Alex Trelinski
DISCUSSIONS are said to be an ‘advanced stage’ for Elon Musk’s electric car manufacturer Tesla to open a factory in the Valencia area.
Both the Reuters news agency and business newspaper Cinco Dias have named Tesla as the company the Valencian government is negotiating with, but both parties have refused to comment.
Reports suggest that the investment will exceed the €4.5 billion pumped in by Volkswagen into a new electric car battery factory at Sagunt.
The regional government has confirmed negotiations are going on with a ‘multinational car maker’ but due to confidentiality clauses, the name cannot be disclosed or where they want to set up their manufacturing plant.
Discussions started nearly a year ago as part of a plan to transform the Valencian Communtiy into a sustainable mobility hub for southern Europe.
Besides the Volkwagen Sagunt deal, Ford will move totally towards electric vehicle production at their Almussafes plant.
If it is Elon Musk’s Tesla that is eyeing a Valencia deal, it would reignite an interesting battle with Volkswagen.
Tesla’s only European plant is in Germany with Musk vowing to ‘vanquish’ Volkswagen.
Last month he said that Tesla would pick a location for a second European factory by the end of the year without specifying where.
Spain is Europe’s second-largest car producer, and is using EU Covid pandemic recovery money to attract carmakers to invest in the manufacture of both batteries and electric vehicles.
