France Begins Process of Wooing Elon Musk

Tesla founder Elon Musk wants to build a new European factory to satisfy growing demand on the continent, and France knows just the place he should do it.

French Energy Minister Segolene Royal reportedly pitched the idea of using the site of a soon-to-be-mothballed reactor to Musk, according to Reuters (via Automotive News Europe).

“He didn’t say no,” said Royal, who plans to follow-up the pitch by meeting with Tesla management.

The Fessenheim nuclear plant, one of France’s oldest, is located in the Alsace region near the German border. French president Francois Hollande has promised to close it by the end of the year, amid outcry from union leaders and select politicos.

The location would be centralized and appealing to Musk — in fact, it’s a region’s he’s idly speculated about in the past.

It’s well known that Musk wants another production facility in Europe to bolster the plant opened in Tillburg, Netherlands in 2013. With Model 3 orders possibly topping 300,000 in its first week, production will need to be boosted in a big way.

In an April 3 Twitter AMA, Musk reiterated the need for more European capacity in order to satisfy long-term regional demand.

Model 3 production is expected to start in late 2017 at Tesla’s Fremont, California facility. Decommissioning a nuclear plant is not something that happens overnight, but once the nuclear fuel is removed and the site decontaminated, the space would be ideal.

Competing timelines will determine whether that idea gets off the ground.

Musk likes the electricity entering his facilities to be as green as possible, and France’s power grid fits the bill, with plenty of nuclear, hydro and wind generation in the mix. France is also a big buyer of electric vehicles, with its government handing out generous subsidies to EV drivers.

Hydro-rich Norway, which loves its Teslas, seems like an obvious possibility, but there’s more than just space and electricity to factor in when setting up shop. The France-Germany border area has a multitude of rail lines and a modern highway network that would provide quick access to many markets.

At the end of the day, Musk will do whatever he damn well pleases, but it must be nice having other countries pass you notes in class.