Elon Musk has made it no secret that he wants to launch production in Europe for Tesla Motors
Centrale nucleaire de FessenheimA DETROIT, MI - Elon Musk has made it no secret that he wants to launch production in Europe for Tesla Motors, the California electric car company he co-founded.
As of January, he had not yet settled on a location. But on Wednesday France Energy Minister Segolene Royal reportedly offered the country's oldest former nuclear reactor site as an option.
Agence France Presse reportsA that Royal proposed Fessenheim, a nuclear reactor site that is set to close at the end of the year. Under pressure from unions and local politicians, the French government is keen on keeping employment at the site, which supports about 2,000 jobs.
Musk did not say no to the option, and French officials are set to meet with Tesla within 10 days, the report says.
Musk has mentioned Alsace, the region of northeast France where Fessenheim is located, as a possibility A before, and it prompted the creation of this video trying to woo Tesla to the area:
In a video (below) posted by Automobile Propre in January, Musk is seen discussing plans for production in Europe and Asia.
He said it would be logical for Tesla to establish factories in China and Germany
The company currently has a small factory in the Netherlands, but need a much bigger area of land and access to a larger employee base to do large-scale production, Musk says in the video.
He mentioned Alsace as a possibility, seeing as it straddles both France and Germany.
In any case, he said there's an incredible talent pool of designers and engineers in Europe.
"Actually I think it's a deeper and richer pool than in the United States," he says.
You can see his remarks here, beginning at about the 18-minute mark:
Tesla has made waves as of late with the unveiling of the Model 3, its $35,000 electric car for the masses. But the company faces volume hurdles to overcome to successfully mass produce and sell the car, which has already been met with fierce demand.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.