Musk Says Russia Is On Tesla's Radar As Potential Production Hub: Report

Tesla Inc.'s TSLA global ambitions are getting bigger and the electric vehicle pioneer is contemplating setting up a manufacturing base at a country known for its authoritarian government and not-so-transparent policies.

What Happened: Tesla is close to establishing a presence in Russia, Bloomberg reported. CEO Elon Musk was reportedly speaking at a Russian government-sponsored event for students via video link.

"Over time, we will look to have factories in other parts of the world, potentially Russia at some point," Musk was quoted as having said.

Musk also acknowledged the abundance of talent and energy in Russia and encouraged people to strive to make the future better than the past and to be optimistic about the future.

Related Link: Tesla To Deliver Model S Plaid On June 3; Musk Calls It 'Fastest Production Car Ever'

Why It's Important: Tesla's main factory is situated in Fremont, California. In Nevada, the company has a Gigafactory, which produces Model 3 electric motors and battery packs, as well its storage products such as Powerall and Powerpack.

Gigafactory 2 is located in Buffalo New York and manufactures solar cells.

The Giga Shanghai is Tesla's first overseas production facility and it currently manufactures both Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Construction of a Gigafactory is currently underway in Berlin. It's speculated that the opening of this Giga will be delayed by six months to January 2022.

See also: How to Invest in Tesla Stock

Telsa is also constructing a manufacturing facility, named Giga Texas, near Austin. The company is likely to use the facility to make its Cybertruck and Tesla Semi.

Incidentally, Musk had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to join him on the Clubhouse chat App for a conversation in March. Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had then shrugged off the invitation as a "misunderstanding," given that Musk had not followed it up further.