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Tesla's Giga Mexico Will Use the Least Amount of Water per Vehicle in the World

Tesla has promised Mexican officials that its new gigafactory in Nuevo Leon will have the lowest water consumption in the world. In a recent tweet, Elon Musk confirmed that Giga Mexico would use the least water per vehicle built. Even so, the water resources in the region might not be enough, as authorities are considering building an aqueduct.
Giga Mexico will use the least amount of water per vehicle 6 photos
Photo: Tesla | Edited
Giga Mexico locationGiga Mexico locationGiga Mexico locationTesla FremontTesla Fremont
Tesla has had a mixed experience with establishing new gigafactories. After an impressive execution and production ramp-up in China with Giga Shanghai, Tesla appeared to have hit a wall in Gruenheide. The famous German bureaucracy and various environmentalist groups have delayed the gigafactory opening and threatened to stop the project.

Those issues are now in the rearview mirror, as Tesla celebrated the mass-production milestone with the 5,000th car assembled in one week. Still, it wasn't pleasant for Tesla to deal with all the setbacks. One of the most contentious points was the scarce water reserves in the Brandenburg area. Environmentalists have used this argument against Tesla every time it tried to do something as mundane as hammering a nail.

The water problem will haunt Tesla in the long run, not only at Giga Berlin. The new gigafactory that Tesla announced in Mexico appears to face a similar ordeal. The region where Giga Mexico will be built in the state of Nuevo Leon is also having problems with the water supplies. This was why Tesla's plans were almost rejected, although the two parties eventually got on the same page. This, no doubt, happened after Tesla reassured Mexican officials that it would use very little water.

According to a Twitter post by the country's foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard, Tesla's gigafactory will have "the lowest water consumption in the world." Elon Musk confirmed this by saying this observation refers to the water consumed per vehicle. Understandably, Tesla is expected to build its biggest gigafactory there, with production far surpassing other car plants. It would not be realistic to consider the overall water consumption as the lowest in the world.

The good thing is that Tesla has a lot of experience operating a car factory with scarce water resources. Its German gigafactory has taken this to an art level thanks to efficient wastewater treatment and reuse. Tesla has gotten so good at this that it recently filed to double production capacity to 1 million vehicles per year without needing additional water resources. That's why Tesla is confident it can do the same or even better in Mexico.

The authorities have already prepared a plan B and are considering building a 60-mile (96-km) water pipeline to bring water from the Cuchillo Dam. The El Cuchillo II aqueduct is promised to complete later this year and ease the water problem in the Nuevo Leon capital region.

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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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