Nuevo León Governor Samuel García said Monday that Tesla and its suppliers will invest US $15 billion in a gigafactory project in the northern border state, an amount triple the figure previously cited by the federal government.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in March that the electric vehicle manufacturer would build a new gigafactory in Santa Catarina, a municipality just west of Monterrey that borders Coahuila. As of last week, the Austin-based company hadn’t obtained any of the permits it requires to build and operate the facility.
Speaking at an event at the La Huasteca park in Santa Catarina, García said that the Tesla factory would be much bigger than originally thought.
“The plant that we announced in March – erase it from the map. It looks like it will be twice as big,” he said.
“Tesla and its suppliers are going to generate US $15 billion of investment in two years,” García said.
“It’s an enormous amount in a very short time,” he added. García didn’t specify whether any of the $15 billion amount would go to the construction of separate facilities operated by Tesla suppliers.
Tesla itself hasn’t said how much it plans to invest in Nuevo León, which has a short border with Texas in the municipality of Anáhuac.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Martha Delgado said in March that the company would invest more than US $5 billion in the gigafactory and that it would employ up to 6,000 people. An unnamed Reuters source with knowledge of Tesla’s plans said at the same time that total spending could reach $10 billion, a figure that was also cited by Santa Catarina Mayor Jesús Nava.
García said Monday that authorities would be obliged to improve infrastructure in Nuevo León, such as highways and the water system, in response to Tesla’s investment. He also said security would have have to be ramped up.
It is unclear when the gigafactory – which is slated to use recycled water – will begin operations, but it appears unlikely to be finished before late 2026.
With reports from Reforma
