Politicians call for billionaire Elon Musk to build electric car and battery plant in Hartlepool

Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council Cllr Shane Moore and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen wrote to the Tesla founder after the company was ordered to halt work on the first European car and battery plant in Germany.

Hartlepool previously made it onto the final shortlist along with Grünheide in Germany after Tesla scoured suitable sites across Europe for its new car plant and world's largest battery factory.

But a court in Frankfurt has ordered forest clearing to be halted after environmentalists argued it will endanger the habitats of lizards and snakes.

In the letter to Elon Musk, Mayor Houchen and Cllr Moore say construction of the Gigafactory could start as soon as February 2021 and that the region offers hundreds of acres of ideal development land and a track record of delivering major projects.

Cllr Moore said: “Having previously made a shortlist of two, the town stands ready to welcome the company with open arms.

“Such a huge and important development would have a truly transformational effect on Hartlepool and surrounding areas in terms of the new jobs it would create and also the wider benefits that would be generated for the regional economy.

“Hartlepool stands ready to roll up our sleeves and start building.”

Mayor Houchen said the region has the necessary skills, automotive experience and are leaders in clean energy and chemicals and precision manufacturing.

He also highlighted the recent go ahead for 4.5million sq ft of manufacturing space at the Teesworks site secured within four months.

Mayor Houchen said: “Site preparation work for Tesla’s first European manufacturing plant in Germany has already been halted twice due to legal challenges from environmental campaigners and it is not hard to see more challenges if the future which would inevitably put back the start of construction and production.

"Tesla would not have any of those problems here, we have the land and we have the highly skilled workforce both for car manufacturing and the battery plant.

“So, if Tesla does not want to miss out as other high-end car manufactures move into electric car space, I would urge the company to look again at Teesside for the plant.”

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