The founder of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, seems to be looking at Germany to set up Gigafactory 2. Gigafactory 1 is already operational in Nevada, US.
On Tuesday, 17 November, German Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, hinted that the second the battery factory could end up being built in Germany.
He confirmed that the country is in contact with Elon Musk, reported elektrek.co.
Earlier, Musk had been vocal about setting up Gigafactory 2 in India following a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tesla headquartes when he was in the US.
In October, Musk had tweeted:
@GangsOfGtown Given high local demand, a Gigafactory in India would probably make sense in the long term.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2015
The tweet conversation of October revealed that the solar-powered electric car manufacturer is also looking at China and Europe for setting up a factory, depending on local demand while continuing to manufacture cars and batteries in Nevada, where Gigafactory 1 is located.
The Gigafactory is a factory making lithium ion batteries. Tesla hopes to build up to 50 Gigawatt hours per year (GWh/yr) of battery packs by 2020, that would power 500,000 Tesla cars per year.
Global leaders like PM Modi and the German Vice-Chancellor are keen on Tesla's plans because of the benefits that might accrue in future. For instance, Nevada governor Brian Sandoval was willing to lure the electric car and power storage manufacturer to his state with huge tax benefits and exemptions. Sandoval estimates that the Gigafactory, which can employ 6500 people, will provide a $100 billion benefit spanning over two decades from the factory.
