Tesla’s plans for a Gigafactory in Nuevo León are moving forward. While there hasn’t been an official announcement regarding a groundbreaking date, Iván Rivas, the Secretary of Economy, shed some light on the matter during his recent appearance at the Tecnos Nuevo León 4.0 Awards, reports Milenio (via @Tslachan).
“They (Tesla) are working on federal permits, we do not know the progress, they say they are going on time. We do not know the progress because they are seeing it at the federal level,” Rivas shared.
Water supply, a concern for many, was also addressed. Rivas clarified the state’s position, saying, “When Tesla starts operations, the Knife II will already be there, so we won’t have any problems in terms of water. They are working on everything that has to do with treated water, they are going to use a lot of recycled water, so I don’t think that there is a problem, they are going to use mainly treated water.”
On the topic of infrastructure readiness, Rivas mentioned, “We are working hard on everything that has to do with the infrastructure part, with the highway part. For example, we work so that when it arrives, everything that has to do with exporting to the Colombia Bridge is ready.”
He further added, “So work is being done on that infrastructure, including also on mobility infrastructure, with the three Metro lines, the electric train. We are working on the different aspects of infrastructure to be ready for when these companies arrive.”
Highlighting the growth of electromobility in Nuevo León, Rivas noted, “There is no exact pattern, but we know that there have been around 60 providers that have reached the electromobility part and continue to reach the state.”
He then elaborated on the significance of this trend, saying, “They are from China, Japan, Italy, France, Germany. We are already a hub (of electromobility), because somehow we already have Tier 1 and Tier 2 that are going to supply the large automakers, they are already supplying Tesla In Austin, they are already supplying other companies such as Stellantis, BMW, we already have that supplier, that’s why we can say that we are already a hub; and with the Tesla and Kia assembly projects we are in a much stronger hub.”
Giga Mexico was announced by Tesla back in March, a new state of the art factory to produce its next-gen vehicle that will be more affordable and geared towards the masses.