“Gigafactory” planned in Mexico: Tesla and the scarce water

Tesla wants to build a new “gigafactory” in northern Mexico. But the region is suffering from extreme drought, also due to climate change. Can the water problem be solved?

Iolanda unscrews the plastic cap of her water tank. She got it last year and set it up in front of her house when the water was rationed, sometimes missing for days – and that in the middle of summer at more than 40 degrees. She has gradually filled up the huge barrel over the past few months, it is her reserve, 250 liters. Because a few days ago, not a drop came out of the tap again.

Priority for the economy

“I heard on the news that the new Tesla factory will only be approved if water is guaranteed for the population. And now it’s starting again,” she says. “There was no water on any day last weekend. They say that something broke, a pipe or something. Just excuses. And then suddenly there is no more water.”

Iolanda is upset. While she and her family were repeatedly left dry for months last year, unable to wash, flush the toilet regularly or take a shower, the companies continued to produce because they had the appropriate concessions and the infrastructure. Iolanda’s neighborhood, on the other hand, queued up when the water tanker came.

“People were desperate”

“People were desperate, they literally fought over water. ‘I want it first’ they screamed. And then a little later there was no more, the tanker was empty again,” says the 40-year-old, who with her husband and two daughters in the municipality of García – around 25 kilometers from the site where Tesla’s new “gigafactory” is to be built. It is a dry, barren region, it hardly rains.

The district is monotonous: small blocks of houses that were built for the surrounding industrial parks are lined up next to each other. New settlements for the employees of the new Tesla factory and the dozens of suppliers will soon be built in their vicinity. They and their families will also need water.

Recycled water should be used

The director of the waterworks in Monterrey, Juan Ignacio Barragán, waves his hand. There’s no need to worry. There will be no repetition of the dramatic situation from last year. It’s all a question of water management, of administration, and that’s where the problem lies. In addition, investments are being made in technology and new infrastructure for better use, and there are also reserves, he promises: “But the most important thing is that Tesla will use treated water for the most part, and we have enough of that. We can ultimately have 29 plants in the size of Tesla.”

Barragán laughs contentedly. Tesla plans to use only recycled water to cool its facility, including for painting vehicles, where the need for water is greatest, according to the official plan. The car manufacturers Kia and Hyundai are already showing the way in Monterrey. Interview requests sent to Tesla’s press email repeatedly receive an automatic response that the recipient’s inbox is full. The interest of the press is obviously great – there is no interview.

Elon Musk wants to invest five billion

The new Tesla plant is to be built in Santa Catarina, on the outskirts of the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, strategically well located on the border with the USA – only around six hours’ drive from Austin. One searches in vain for signs announcing the construction project. The property is said to be guarded, but there is no sign of that either.

In the spring of last year, a Tesla “giga factory” was set up in the US state of Texas. Elon Musk now wants to invest five billion dollars in the new plant in Monterrey. The next generation of Tesla vehicles will soon be built here.

Attractive business location

Monterrey is attractive for many transnational companies – for companies that have previously produced in China and are looking for alternatives in view of the geopolitical tensions between the USA and China. Jesús Francisco López Molina, spokesman for the Mexican chamber for the processing industry in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, receives daily calls from companies interested in the location.

“Apart from the proximity to the USA, we have important prerequisites here. There is a very good education here, we have the most renowned universities here,” says López Molina. “And there are already suppliers, over 15,000 small and medium-sized companies in the region that can adapt to the needs of companies like Tesla. Tesla will need hundreds of suppliers. And the company can find them here in Nuevo León.”

It will be even hotter in the desert region

The director of the environmental organization Pronatura, Rosario Álvarez Gutiérrez in Monterrey, also welcomes the investment and jobs associated with the new Tesla factory. However, she also has major concerns: “The city keeps growing. But the amount of water that we have available from the wells and the mountains is no longer available. We remain a semi-arid desert region, and we are over a depression that is already overexploited. This situation is not going to improve. Rather, climate change will make it drier and hotter.”

The industrial parks are getting bigger, excavators are rolling, digging excavations for new companies. Expressways run past it, on which buses and cars move at walking pace during rush hours. At the same time, nothing is being done for the local population, says activist and biologist Antonio Hernández. According to a study, the population in the commuter belt has grown by 160 percent in just the past decade. Completely uncontrolled, criticizes Hernández.

“The city is about to collapse”

“Mobility in particular is a huge problem. The city is on the verge of collapse. People sometimes spend three hours on public transport,” says Hernández. “There was never any real urban planning that went along with the emergence of new plants. And now thousands more homes are being built for Tesla and its suppliers just like that.”

He does not see the political will to change the living conditions. The focus is on the companies, the profits, not the people who live here. Iolanda also has great doubts: “I do think that the water thing will be difficult, even if they tell us that it’s not a problem.” The water will be turned off again in the next few days, she predicts.