Tesla’s Chinese battery maker CATL is scoping out factory sites in Mexico close to the Texas border
- The battery manufacturer is considering Ciudad Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua, and Saltillo, in Coahuila, according to people familiar with the deliberations
- CATL is contemplating an investment of as much as US$5 billion in the project. Both sites are near the Texas border
The battery manufacturer is considering Ciudad Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua, and Saltillo, in Coahuila, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Both are near the Texas border. The company is contemplating an investment of as much US$5 billion in the project, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
Ciudad Juarez is attractive in part because it’s close to the San Jeronimo-Santa Teresa port of entry into the US state of New Mexico. That would provide a route around the border crossings of Texas, which is the home of Tesla’s new factory but in recent months has taken measures that complicated shipping and entry into the US.
Governor Greg Abbott in April increased inspections of commercial vehicles, stating a desire to crack down on illegal drug trafficking and immigration. But analysis by one economics research body found that it cost the state’s economy more than US$4 billion in lost output due to shipping delays and bridge blockades.
CATL, as the Ningde, China-based company is known, is also considering splitting its investment across two locations – one in the US and one in Mexico, the people said. A final decision hasn’t been made and the total size of the investment is fluid. Bloomberg reported in March that the investment could build an 80 gigawatt-hour factory.
CATL and Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford declined to comment. Austin, Texas-based Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment.
