Setback or abandonment of the project? Tesla has put plans to build a battery factory in Germany on hold to see how the group can respond to new regulations on subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles in the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal. Washington indeed adopted in August a text providing for tax incentives for manufacturers if the batteries are manufactured and assembled in the United States, recalls the economic daily in its Thursday edition.
The law also provides for a subsidy for the purchase of an electric vehicle of up to $7,500, provided that the final assembly of the cars is carried out in North America and that the raw materials used for the batteries come from, in a growing proportion from the same region. However, Tesla had so far planned to build a battery factory in Germany, in addition to the car factory already installed near Berlin, with the possibility that some of them will be sent to the United States. Elon Musk’s group is therefore studying the implication of new American regulations and is postponing, in the meantime, its project in Germany, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter.
READ ALSO
Tesla prices could drop thanks to new Panasonic batteries
A file filed to build a lithium refinery in Texas
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request from AFP. The manufacturer of electric vehicles filed in late August, a few days after the adoption of the law in Washington, a file with the auditor of public accounts of Texas evoking the possibility of building a lithium refinery in this state. The finished product, lithium hydroxide, would be shipped by road and rail to various Tesla battery manufacturing sites in the United States, details the company, which is seeking tax breaks to carry out its project. Tesla specified, however, that it was still at the stage of “assessing the feasibility of the project” and stressed that it was also studying the possibility of building a similar site in the state of Louisiana.
READ ALSO
Tesla’s trick to make its electric batteries cheaper