French minister wants Tesla to turn old nuclear power plant into car factory

French Environment and Energy Minister Ségolène Royal wants Tesla to turn the Fessenheim nuclear power plant into a car factory, which will close this year. Royal says she spoke to Tesla CEO Elon Musk and he said “no no.”

Musk has previously indicated that he wants to start a car factory in Europe, but would still doubt between France and Germany as a location. The French minister wants to persuade Tesla to come to France by already designating a place where the factory can be located. The French news agency AFP writes that the minister has an appointment with Tesla management within ten days to discuss the plan.

The nuclear power plant in Fessenheim, near the German border, has been in operation since 1978 and will be closed in 2016 due to safety concerns. Landslides may occur in the area that could pose a threat to the two high-pressure reactors. Perhaps the existing infrastructure can be partly used to establish a car factory there.

Tesla announced the Model 3 last week. It is Tesla Motors’ first electric car for the general public, with a starting price of $35,000. Tesla thinks it can produce about 100,000 cars a year, but there are already more than 275,000 orders posted.

In theory, the Fremont, California plant, where Tesla cars are currently made, could produce 500,000 cars per year. However, the number of available batteries required for the cars is much smaller than that. To increase production, Tesla is working on its Gigafactory in Nevada, which should be active in early 2017.

Fessenheim nuclear power plant. Photo via Wikipedia.