Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly discussed the possibility of building a battery factory in South Africa with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. It is reported that the conversation between Musk and Ramaphosa took place in early 2024, but it was not reported until now.
According to reports, Musk approached Ramaphosa and requested that regulations be relaxed to allow his satellite Internet service, Starlink operated by SpaceX, to operate in South Africa.
Under South Africa's existing regulations, Starlink must have at least 30% black ownership in order to operate, which may require SpaceX to cooperate with locals.
Musk and Ramaphosa discussed the possibility of Tesla building a battery factory in South Africa as part of a deal to encourage the country to relax regulations to enable Starlink to operate there.
It's unclear what kind of "battery factory" they're talking about, whether it's electric vehicle batteries or Megapacks for energy storage.
Tesla produces its own batteries at its Gigafactory in Texas, USA, but production is limited and the batteries are currently only used in Tesla's Cybertruck.
Tesla has been rumored to be discussing building a factory in South Africa since 2016, but nothing has come of it so far.