Tesla, Saudi in early talks for EV unit; Tayyip Erdogan also seeks a plant

Saudi Arabia is in early talks with US electric automaker Tesla to set up a manufacturing facility in the kingdom, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The report comes just hours after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk to build a vehicle factory in Turkey, according to the country’s communications directorate.
 

Musk is also set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in California on Monday.
 

Saudi Arabia has been wooing Tesla with the right to purchase certain quantities of metals and minerals the company needs for its EVs from countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo.
 

 

The kingdom has been trying to shift its economy away from oil, while its sovereign wealth fund is the majority investor in Lucid Group, one of the EV startups looking to challenge Tesla. One of the proposals the kingdom is considering involves extending financing to commodities trader Trafigura for a flailing Congo cobalt and copper project, which could help provide a Tesla factory 

with supplies.