How About Quebec For Tesla Gigafactory Or Global Battery Factory?

Quebec is rich in critical battery metals, has plenty of clean hydropower, and is heavily incentivizing key minerals.

By: EVANNEX

Dec 2, 2021 at 8:08am ET

Comment

This article comes to us courtesy of EVANNEX, which makes and sells aftermarket Tesla accessories. The opinions expressed therein are not necessarily our own at InsideEVs, nor have we been paid by EVANNEX to publish these articles. We find the company's perspective as an aftermarket supplier of Tesla accessories interesting and are happy to share its content free of charge. Enjoy!

Posted on EVANNEX on December 02, 2021, by Charles Morris

Speculation continually buzzes around the world about the possible locations of Tesla’s next Gigafactories. Why not Québec? The Canadian province is arguably an ideal location for large-scale battery production, and its government has enacted a number of EV-friendly measures.

Above: Tesla factory (Source: Tesla)

Québec is rich in critical battery metals, and has plenty of cheap and clean hydropower. The provincial government is heavily incentivizing the extraction of key minerals such as lithium, nickel and graphite, and recently announced plans to invest up to 3 billion Canadian dollars (2.4 billion US bucks) in battery production.

Lion Electric is planning to build a 5 GWh battery factory in Québec, and companies including Nemaska Lithium and Nouveau Monde Graphite have launched products to produce and refine graphite and lithium. Now Electrek reports that the Québec government is in talks with Tesla about possibly establishing battery production in the province.

Tesla has already indirectly invested in Québec’s lithium resources through a deal with Piedmont Lithium, which is involved with a lithium project in Quebec’s Abitibi region.

Québec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon “met with Tesla executives during a mission in California last month,” said a spokesperson. “They discussed Québec’s place in Tesla’s supply chain.”

Tell us what you think!

View

Comments

Le Journal de Montreal reported that talks “have been moving forward over the last few months.”

Is Tesla just looking for lithium, or might Québec be the site of the next Gigafactory? No details are on offer at this point.