Tesla May Start Production at Giga Mexico as Soon as Next Year, Says Governor

As Tesla awaits the beginning of construction for its new Northern Mexico Gigafactory, a new statement from a Mexican official suggests that the company could begin building vehicles at the plant as soon as next year.

According to Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia in an interview on Monday, Tesla could be slated for its first vehicles to be built at Gigafactory Mexico in 2024, as reported by Reuters.

“They are waiting for the final permits … once that’s done, they can start, hopefully this very month, in March,” said Garcia. “I think by next year, in 2024, there will be the first autos.”

The news comes just under a week after Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the new factory at the company’s Investor Day event, during which the automaker also detailed plans for its next-generation vehicle platform.

The planned factory site for Giga Mexico is twice that of Giga Texas, according to a recent statement from Santa Catarina Mayor Jesus Nava. Additionally, the site is more than twice the size of the Mexico City International Airport.

Garcia also noted that the several-thousand-acre site could someday host Tesla’s in-house battery and chip manufacturing operations.

“That’s why they bought a very large plot of land,” Garcia added.