France Courts Tesla With Idea of Turning Old Nuclear Plant Into a Factory

— -- Elon Musk has previously spoken about his desire to build a Tesla factory in Europe -- and now a French politician is hoping he'll consider setting up shop at a former nuclear facility in northeast France.

Ségolène Royal, France's minister of environment and energy, suggested the Fessenheim nuclear facility could be re-purposed after a planned shutdown and turned into a European manufacturing hub for Tesla, according to AFP. During a Tuesday briefing, Royal said she previously mentioned the idea to Musk and "he did not say no," AFP reported.

A Tesla representative confirmed to ABC News today that company officials are meeting with Royal about the site.

Located in the northeastern Alsace region of France, which borders Germany and Switzerland, Fessenheim could offer Tesla a strategic location for serving the European market. Earlier this year, Musk mentioned Alsace has a possible place for building a plant, but he added he was speculating, according to the French car website Automobile Propre.

Tesla plans to produce 500,000 cars a year by the end of the decade and with the tremendous demand for the new Model 3, Musk and his team will have their work cut out for them.

The automaker currently produces vehicles in its Fremont, California, factory, which was previously used by General Motors and Toyota’s New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI). At its height, the factory had capacity to produce half-a-million cars per year. Tesla's website says the factory is currently capable of producing more than 100,000 vehicles annually.

Tesla's Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, is set to begin producing battery cells next year, coinciding with the time Tesla plans to deliver the first orders of its mass market Model 3 sedan. On Saturday, Musk said more than 276,000 pre-orders had been placed for the vehicle -- a number that is likely to grow.