Recently we heard from some of those expert types that the UK really needs a big factory to keep up with demand for electric car batteries – because right now we’re not doing so well. As it turns out Tesla-superowner Elon Musk had considered building a battery gigafactory here, but Brexit meant he chose Germany instead.
Back in late 2016 Elon Musk said Brexit wasn’t really an issue when it came to expanding into the UK and Europe. He even had plans to build a Tesla R&D centre in the UK at one point, but a lot can change in three years. Speaking to Auto Express, he said that Brexit did play a role in Tesla choosing Germany as the location of its gigafactory.
“Brexit [uncertainty] made it too risky to put a Gigafactory in the UK.”
So now Tesla’s European factory will be built in the outskirts of Berlin, where it will be responsible for building batteries, trains and vehicles. He 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.”
Obviously we are taking back control, even if that control seems to be scaring off big business and sending them off into the arms of the European mainland. Take that, European Union!
But no doubt the hardcore pro-Brexit people will be leaving some comments about how Musk is using Brexit as an excuse for some reason or another. I’m not sure how their brains work, to be honest. [Auto Express, Bild via The Guardian]
This post originally appeared on Gizmodo UK, which is gobbling up the news in a different timezone.