Tesla’s planned Europe Gigafactory could end up in Germany, says Musk

U.S. electric car manufacturer, Tesla, has tipped Germany as the location for its first European massive factory, its chief executive, Elon Musk, has said, in a move described by market analysts as an outside firm’s foray into the European battery market.

Industry experts expect a green car revolution to boost Europe’s battery market to around 250 billion euros ($290 billion) by 2025.

According to multiple wire reports, Asian companies, including CATL and Samsung have already set up their own European operations, prompting European politicians and business leaders to call for more home-grown investment.

“Germany is a leading choice for Europe. Perhaps on the German-French border makes sense, near the Benelux countries,” Tesla’s billionaire boss, Elon Musk, said on Twitter, in response to a public tweet.

Tesla already has operations in Pruem, Germany, which is only 30 kilometers from Belgium, and about 100 kilometers from the French border.

Pruem is the headquarters for Tesla’s Grohmann Engineering division, which specialises in automated manufacturing systems for battery making plants. Grohmann recently built a production line for Tesla’s U.S. battery factory in Reno, Nevada, to speed up production for its Model 3 electric sedan.

In what is perceived as a show of the strength of Asia’s position in the market, Volkswagen – Europe’s biggest carmaker – recently picked LG Chem, Samsung and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) to deliver $25 billion
of batteries