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Tesla Already Talking With Ontario Government For Future Canada Gigafactory

The Tesla Canada division has already begun talks with the Government of Ontario for the construction of a possible electric car Gigafactory in the Canadian province very soon.
Tesla Model Y, Courtesy of Tesla Inc.

It seems that Elon Musk was very serious about the issue: just a week ago, the Tesla CEO subtly declared the possibility of creating a new Gigafactory in Canada. At that time many saw that comment as a regular marketing tactic; however, it seems that this was in fact more confirmation than irony, since the Tesla board has already begun to reinforce its interest in establishing an electric car manufacturing plant in Canada.

A couple of days ago it was revealed that the leadership of the Austin firm had already established official talks with the Government of Ontario, Canada, where the new Tesla Gigafactory would presumably settle. This increase in efforts to make this plan effective involves a presentation by the electric vehicle manufacturer to the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of the Canadian province.

Gigafactory Nevada, courtesy of Tesla Inc.

According to that version, this beginning in the conversations between Tesla Canada and the local government would have the purpose of "identifying opportunities for reforms of permits of industrial facilities", as they call it. However, from the office of the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Commerce of Ontario, they have not yet given an official response to the request sent, so official news is expected in the coming days in this regard.

Canada's Industry Minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, admitted last May that his government was in talks with different car companies to start building a full electric vehicle industry in the country. Now, after the events of the last few days, it seems that Tesla could be one of those companies.

Tesla is in fact looking for a way to increase and diversify the production and distribution of their electric cars in different countries, in addition to those in which they already have a presence. Today, the company has manufacturing plants in the United States (Fremont and Austin), Europe (Berlin) and China (Shanghai), while in recent months there has already been talk of a new facility for China, as well as other possibilities in other territories such as Mexico and Canada. Elon Musk assured just a few days ago that the company "could be able" to announce a new factory by the end of this year and ultimately reach a total of 10 to 12 Gigafactories around the world, although he did not specifically referred to any period of time.

But we also need to consider that Tesla has always been very much in favor of increasing its value chain in its country of origin, the United States; something that could be reinforced in the coming months thanks to a bill approved by the US Senate, in the sense that $430 billion worth of aid is being offered to source battery components in North America in order to replace or at least decrease dependence on China's market in this regard.

In parallel, Tesla continues to reap record numbers in the manufacturing of its models and is already seeking to reach the figure of 2 million electric cars manufactured annually, as we reported in an article before; a figure that would position it among the most outstanding companies in the sector, that is, encompassing all automakers, not only EV brands.

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.

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