Tesla Inc. plans to open a factory to produce battery manufacturing equipment in the Canadian city of Markham, Ont., Mayor Frank Scarpitti said, as the electric carmaker ramps up the production of cheaper, higher-range 4680 battery cells.
“I’m delighted to share that Tesla Canada is joining our already robust automotive and technology ecosystem by locating a manufacturing facility in the City of Markham,” the mayor of the city near Toronto said on Twitter.
Markham is a suburb of Toronto, just north of the city.
“The facility will be the first branded Tesla Canada manufacturing facility in Canada and will produce state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment to be used at the Gigafactories located around the world in the production of batteries.”
Scarpitti did not provide many details. In 2019, the U.S. electric carmaker acquired Canada-based Hibar, which manufactures pumps used in fast-speed battery assembly that Tesla is introducing for its new 4680 cells.
David Adams, head of the Global Automakers of Canada, in his own tweet welcomed Elon Musk to Markham and congratulated the mayor.
“Tesla’s growing commitment to Canada underscores the capabilities of the Canadian workforce and a modern automotive industry,” Adams said in his tweet.
Tesla did not immediately comment on the mayor’s tweet. Last year, Tesla senior vice president Andrew Baglino said at the Battery Day event that its “vertical integration” with Hibar and others would allow them to build batteries faster and scale up production of its 4680 battery cells.
Baglino said last month that Tesla will start delivering its first vehicles with 4680 batteries early next year, but added that “this is a new architecture and unknown unknowns may exist still.”
Tesla currently builds the 4680 cells at its pilot factory in California and plans to start their production at its upcoming factories in Texas and Berlin.
Greg Layson of Automotive News Canada contributed to this report.