Nuevo León competed with Hidalgo for the Tesla plant, but Musk favored the northern state that shares a border with Texas, where another of his gigafactories is located and from where the lithium batteries that will be installed in the models manufactured in Nuevo León will be shipped.
The governor of the entity, Samuel García, who attended the event, suggested on his Twitter account that Tesla will manufacture a new low-cost model at the Mexican plant, which will be more accessible than the Model 3 and which Tesla has referred to as a “new generation vehicle”.
Months ago, Musk spoke of his plans to launch a more affordable model on the market – which the media have referred to as the model 2−, with a base price of 25,000 dollars (about 500,000 pesos).
First image of the Tesla gigafactory in Mexico
Despite the fact that the Tesla CEO did not confirm on Investor Day that he will assemble the Model 2 in Mexico, the automaker posted on his Twitter account that the new Mexican plant, its fifth gigafactory in the world, will manufacture a new generation vehicle.
Tesla aims to make its next-generation model the most affordable in its offering, thanks to multiple efficiencies in both the battery and the assembly process.
Tesla has not revealed how long it will take to build its new Mexican plant, but Tom Zhu, who heads the company’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region and the most high-profile executive in the entire automaker after Musk, said that construction of the gigafactory in Shanghai, China, was completed in nine and a half months.
The project started in January 2019, was inaugurated in September and three months later the first vehicle produced there was delivered to a customer.
Since then, the American manufacturer has worked to optimize the assembly of its battery packs and vehicles, with the aim of reducing costs. “We are always looking for opportunities to further increase production from existing capacity,” Zhu said.
Tesla seeks to cut the cost of manufacturing its cars in half
Franz von Holzhausen, chief designer and creative director of the company, recalled that although the usual assembly of a vehicle is carried out through series production -a system created by Henry Ford almost a century ago-, Tesla’s next-generation vehicle will be produced differently.
“Normally the manufacturing process is done in four steps (stamping, welding, painting and final assembly), but we realized that we can do the same thing in less time and more efficiently,” he added.
The manufacturing process developed by Tesla involves carrying out several processes simultaneously, with which the manufacturer hopes to halve the manufacturing cost of the new vehicle, compared to the current cost of Model 3 and Model Y.
The company plan also contemplates use 75% less silicon carbide in vehicles without compromising the performance or efficiency of the models.
Musk does not confirm battery plant in Hidalgo or Sonora
Today Tesla has four gigafactories distributed on three continents (America, Asia and Europe), with a production capacity of 2 million vehicles per year, and which together employ more than 65,000 people.
Musk did not specify how many jobs will be generated in the new Mexican gigafactory, but government sources estimated between 5,000 and 6,000 new jobs.
The businessman also did not confirm during Investor Day the installation of a electric battery plant in Hidalgo or in Sonora, an offer made this morning by President López Obrador. “I am going to review the agenda to agree on a tour with Musk around the country,” said the president, who stressed that the Government of Mexico is interested in Tesla also reaching Sonora, the state headquarters of the state company in charge of managing the value chain. of lithium, and epicenter of the so-called Plan Sonora, which seeks to promote the generation of solar energy.
For now Musk only talked about the gigafactory in Nuevo León and said that its production will complement that of all the other factories.
“So, to be clear, it’s not about moving production from one place to another, it’s just about expanding total global production. Yes. So it can be good,” Musk said during his Investor Day appearance.