The possibility of Tesla installing a car and battery factory in the Valencian Community, still to be confirmed and under negotiation with the Generalitat Valenciana, has reinforced the hypothesis that this autonomy can become a reference in the electric vehicle industrial ecosystem in southern Europe. This was not the case just a year ago, when there were fears for the future of the Ford plant in Almussafes, when the multinational was meditating which factory to close in Europe, the one in Germany or the one in Valencia. But a few months ago, two pieces of news reversed the situation: Volkswagen chose Sagunt to install its gigafactory, with an investment of 3,000 million euros, and Ford announced that Almussafes would continue to operate, converting itself into a plant for electric vehicles. At a cost, yes, in the workforce, since about 20% of Ford workers in Valencia will be affected by an ERE.
Last Thursday a piece of news was added to this new cycle: Tesla is negotiating with the Generalitat Valenciana the possibility of installing a vehicle and battery factory, with an investment that could exceed 5,000 million euros. The leak of the news has not pleased the Valencian executive, since this negotiation is subject to a confidentiality clause and it is feared that the dissemination of this possible investment will affect the final result. That is, at least, what sources from the Generalitat Valenciana now point out. But it is no less true that President Ximo Puig had announced during the electoral campaign that several multinational companies were interested in investing more than 24,000 million euros in the Valencian Community in areas, mainly, of the electrification of vehicles.
Tesla has invested in Germany more than 5,000 million euros in its first European gigafactory. The megafactory, which is located on the outskirts of Berlin, produces cars and batteries. But Musk’s firm wanted to find another site for a second factory. That the choice could be the Valencian Community is not without logic: two other multinationals such as Ford and Volkswagen have already confirmed their investments for a commitment, that of the electric vehicle, which is a requirement of the European Union, which has imposed its rhythms.
The case of Tesla refers to the case of the German multinational and its subsidiary PowerCo, which is the one that will develop the investment in Sagunt, with the capacity to provide direct and indirect employment to more than 10,000 people. In the negotiation with Volkswagen, the Generalitat Valenciana maintained absolute discretion, also subject to the requirement of confidentiality, and the formula ended successfully. And that Sagunt was not, initially, on the map of where this gigafactory was going to be installed. Initially it was thought that it could be Catalonia, an option that the multinational itself ruled out. Subsequently, the Spanish Government opted for Aragon and Extremadura, but the executive of Ximo Puig managed, with not a few complicities, to enter the pool. For months it was negotiated in Germany and in Valencia, with secret meetings at the highest level by the company and the German institution.
Several factors played in favor of the choice of Sagunt: land and rail communications, with the Mediterranean corridor as a reference; the possibility of immediately having land to start the works, the proximity and collaboration of the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the proximity of the ports of Sagunt and, also, of Valencia.
These factors have also been put on the table in the negotiations with Tesla, according to various sources. But one of the difficulties is the location of a Tesla factory that will need a lot of land and ease of connection with the indicated infrastructures. At the moment, the Generalitat Valenciana, logically, refuses to confirm anything. Now there are fears that Elon Musk’s company could finally back out for whatever reason, including leaking the negotiations. In any case, the Valencian Community is already an attractive geography for the new automobile industry, whether or not Tesla finally comes.
