The Legault government is casting a wide net in its efforts to accelerate the development of the battery sector, and the electric vehicle giant Tesla is one of the companies with which there are exchanges.
While in California as part of an economic mission, the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, met representatives of the multinational headed by Elon Musk, on October 14.
“There was talk of Quebec’s place in Tesla’s supply chain,” Mathieu St-Amand, press secretary for Mr. Fitzgibbon, said in a statement on Monday.
He added nothing more. It was not possible to know with whom the Quebec minister spoke or the list of subjects discussed.
Tesla Motors Canada recently modified its registration in the Quebec Lobbyists Registry in order to be able to make representations to the Ministry of the Economy regarding a “mechanism for the collection and recycling of batteries” of electric vehicles.
Quebec plans to invest 1 billion to 2 billion over the next two or three years to accelerate the development of the battery sector, from the mine to the battery module. This should be accompanied by private investments which could oscillate between 4 and 6 billion.
A meeting with Tesla executives does not mean, however, that Quebec would be in line to host an assembly plant for the manufacturer of electric vehicles.
PHOTO MATTHEW CHILDS, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Tesla is one of the companies met by the Minister of Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon during his visit to California last month.
On October 18, on the sidelines of the presentation of a 100% electric ambulance at Demers Ambulances – after his meeting at Tesla -, Mr. Fitzgibbon had clarified the substance of his thoughts.
“I consider that Ontario is going to make cars, they are doing it well,” he explained, in the scrum of the press. We are going to do everything that surrounds commercial vehicles. I think we have to focus where we can be champions. ”
Companies like Britishvolt (London) and StromVolt (Ontario) each aim to build a factory in Quebec for lithium-ion cells – the basic element of the battery of electric vehicles.
For its part, the Lion Electric Company, behind electric buses and trucks, has chosen to set up its battery pack factory in Mirabel to supply its vehicles.