The location of Tesla's next factory could be announced by the end of 2022

Webmaster's House (ChinaZ.com) January 28 News: Tesla's two new car factories this year, the Berlin Gigafactory and the Texas Gigafactory, will be officially opened. On the recent fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk noted that while Tesla isn't ready to announce the next plant construction site today, things could be different by the end of the year.

Musk's comments on Tesla's next factory were part of his opening remarks on the earnings call. In his update, Musk mentioned that the Model Y with 4680 batteries and structural battery packs should begin deliveries after the vehicle is finally certified. Musk also added that it will continue to expand capacity by maximizing the output of each existing plant as well as building new ones.

"So in Texas, we're building a Model Y with a structural battery pack and a 4680 battery, and we're going to start delivering after the vehicle is finally certified, which should be soon." In the future, capacity will continue to be expanded by maximizing the output of each plant and by building new plants and new locations. While we're not ready to announce any new locations on this call, we're going to be looking for new locations by 2022 and may (be able to) announce new locations by the end of the year, I expect," Musk said.

Musk's announcement on the fourth-quarter and fiscal 2021 earnings call suggests that Tesla may consider opening more than one new factory at multiple locations this year. Interestingly, Musk didn't directly refer to these upcoming facilities as "gigafactories," which could suggest that some of these new plants may follow the company's other projects, such as the "gigafactory" in Lathrop, California.

Given the challenges and delays facing the company's Berlin plant, Tesla may be more deliberate in choosing the location of the new plant. While the Berlin plant was built quickly due to the use of earlier approvals, the final approval for the facility took considerable time before it was issued. Local groups opposed to the facility have also raised one legal challenge after another to the project. For its next plant, if Tesla decides to set up operations in places where it can act quickly and openly, such as Texas in the United States or Shanghai in China.