Tesla Gigafactory Mexico Nearing Final Permits, Official Says

Tesla announced plans to build a new Gigafactory in Mexico at its Investor Day event in March, and the automaker says the site will manufacture its next-generation vehicle. According to a new report, the Tesla Gigafactory may be getting close to receiving its final building permits — meaning construction could be just around the corner.

Above: A Tesla Model Y (Image: Casey Murphy / EVANNEX).

The Gigafactory will be built outside of Monterrey in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, and the state’s Governor, Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda, says Tesla is close to receiving final building permits for the project (via electrek). Upon receiving these permits, Tesla should be able to begin construction, and García Sepúlveda expects the automaker to be given the go-ahead at “any moment.”

“We do not yet have a date for when, but the good news is that all the permits, for the environment, energy, water, everything is already checked, it is advancing,” García Sepúlveda said. “So at any moment we are going to give them the news that the first stone is being laid.”

The news comes as the latest on the factory’s construction since it was announced four months ago. Meanwhile, reports have suggested that Tesla might still be awaiting permits, although others had reported that the Gigafactory could begin construction as soon as next year.

While the governor didn’t share any other details on Tesla nearing the construction phase, he did reiterate the company’s plans to build its next-generation electric vehicle at the plant. Tesla announced the next-gen EV at Investor Day, expected to be a more-affordable mass-market vehicle than its current offerings.

“What we have of information is that right now they are already in the final stage of the design of the new car, a new model, which is going to be, as far as we know, the best electric and economic car in the world, and it is going to be a milestone,“ the Nuevo León governor continued. “So, now yes, with the design finished, what we know is that they are already finishing the production lines, the software, and everything that must be ready to start the plant.”

The Nuevo León Gigafactory was rumored months before its official unveiling in March, and before Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that Tesla had chosen the state in late February. Earlier in the year, there were also reports saying that other states had been vying for the Tesla Gigafactory, though the automaker has since secured land outside Monterrey.

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