Why did Musk choose Berlin and not the UK to open Tesla’s new gigafactory?

It was announced yesterday that Tesla’s fourth gigafactory would be situated on the outskirts of Berlin. “Berlin rocks” says Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of Tesla, but why exactly was Berlin chosen over the UK as the European plant for the gigafactory?

Must said: “Some of the best cars in the world are made in Germany. Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding, for sure, and that’s part of the reason why we are locating our gigafactory Europe in Germany. We are also going to create an engineering and design centre in Berlin.” According to Build, the creation of this factory will create 10,000 jobs. “We are also going to create an engineering and design centre in Berlin,” he added. He also announced this on social media with the tweet “Giga Berlin,” shortly followed with, "Will build batteries, powertrains & vehicles, starting with Model Y."

Musk told Auto Express yesterday that the uncertainty of Brexit caused was largely the reason the UK was not the choice location: “Brexit made it too risky to put a gigafactory in the UK.”

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The Shanghai factory

This development comes hot on the heels of the US$2bn Chinese Gigafactory, which is still under construction in Lingang, Pudong, Shanghai. The plant was established in May 2018 and according to JL Warren Capital, expects to produce 6000 vehicles by the end of 2019, with mass production beginning mid-2020. 

[image: Tesla]

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