France Makes Efforts to Land Tesla Factory

France continues to make a concerted effort to convince Tesla CEO Elon Musk to build the company’s next gigafactory in the country. France’s digital minister said the country is working hard to make this happen.

France builds rapport with Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited France in May where he met with the president, Emmanuel Macron. During the 45-minute meeting, the President told him that the country is a leading center for foreign investment and electric vehicles. After the meeting, Macron tweeted that they talked about France’s attractiveness and significant progress in electric vehicles, energy, and digital regulation. He stressed that he has “so much to do together” with Musk.

France is trying to convince Tesla to build a factory in the country

After Musk’s recent visit to France, the mood of local politicians has received a boost. More and more officials are trying to convince him to build the next Tesla factory there. The country’s digital minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, told CNBC during the VivaTech conference in Paris that France wants to attract the company’s investment.

“It will be great to have a Tesla factory in France, there has been a lot of effort and energy to make sure this is possible and this can happen,” he said.

France joins the EV development

Many countries in the world are already actively developing in the field of supporting the progress of EVs. France has also sought to solidify its position as a manufacturing hub for electric vehicles. This year, the country opened its first battery plant for electric vehicles.

“We have also invested in an … entire sector of electric batteries so we will try to convince him [Musk] that France is the best possible place in Europe to establish the next Tesla factory,” Barrot said.

Barrot praised Musk as a “great inventor, probably one of the greatest of the beginning of this century.”