Reports suggesting that U.S. electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla has abandoned plans to open a plant in Jalisco, which would have created around 4,000 jobs, have been scotched by federal authorities.
According to Jalisco Economic Development Secretary Ernesto Sánchez, Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided to scrap the project due to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s policy to promote fossil fuels over clean energy. Reports confirm that Tesla’s new electric car plant will be based in Austin, Texas.
Sánchez’s remarks came at the inauguration of a new Tesla supercharger station in the Jalisco town of Tepatitlan.
However, sources quoted in several national newspapers said Musk never had any intention of manufacturing vehicles in Mexico, and that the Jalisco government is simply playing politics.
Mexico is nonetheless an attractive market for Tesla. The California-based firm has now installed 19 supercharger stations spread out around the country, along with 120 charging points. Additional supercharger stations are planned in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara in the near future.
Superchargers provide a 480-volt direct current fast-charging technology and are placed at convenient locations in urban areas. They permit a charge of 80 percent capacity in less than 30 minutes. Each charging station has between four and eight positions or chargers.