Although unfinished at the moment, the Gigafactory in Berlin has started producing dozens of Tesla Model Ys. However, depending on the version chosen, your car will be produced in Shanghai or Berlin. In any case, this is what internal documents have revealed.
Only Model Ys in black or white // Source: @wolfpackberlin
We can say that the Gigafactory in Berlin has caused a lot of ink to flow. Despite everything, we are very close to reaching the end of this soap opera within the huge factory in charge of the production of Tesla cars.
While assembly operations at the Berlin plant were to begin in the fall of 2021, German administrative formalities dampened the enthusiasm of the American manufacturer. In addition, the first vehicles produced do not seem to meet the targeted quality criteria. It is clear that the factory, although still unfinished, nevertheless began to produce dozens and dozens of vehicles.
Photos of car parks are often posted on social networks. There are hundreds of Model Ys parked there. Tesla confirmed in an internal email, posted on the German Tesla Drivers and Friends (TFF) forum, that it plans to begin deliveries of the Model Y Performance as early as March 2022.
Shanghai or Berlin depending on the model you choose
Regarding the Model Y Performance, this was to be expected, as a change was made to the configurator in January. The delivery date for the black and white version is now March. For other paint finishes, you will have to wait until May.
This means that if you ordered a Long Range Model Y, you will receive a model produced in Shanghai. Don’t worry, all versions of the Model Y benefit from recent innovations, including longer autonomy on Long Autonomy, the AMD Ryzen processor for infotainment or even welcome options and equipment (the 12V Li -ion, laminated rear glazing, heated wipers, etc.).
And the 4680 battery?
The specialized media Electrek reported, based on information retrieved internally, that Tesla also wanted to deliver the first Model Y from the new factory in Texas (USA) before the end of the first quarter. What is interesting here is whether the conventional 2170 batteries will be used or if it will be the newer 4680 batteries. This is a real unknown at the moment.
Given that the production of the Model Y in Texas and the production of the 4680 cells (from Panasonic) are several months behind, it is still unlikely that this will be the case this year.
The Shanghai Gigafactory is impressive
Even if the first estimates of the factories are high, it is the Shanghai factory that impresses the most. Indeed, the latter has reached a weekly production capacity of more than 8,500 cars, or 450,000 vehicles over a year. To realize the importance of this figure, know that it is a little less than half of the vehicles produced by Tesla in 2021 (930,422 in total).
In August 2020, the Chinese site could produce 2,400 cars per week. In January 2021, 5,500 cars came out of this Gigafactory every week. The objective for 2022 could even be well above 9,000 weekly vehicles, or 500,000 vehicles per year. This is a rather conservative projection, given that in September 2021, 11,000 vehicles were produced per week at this plant, which would give almost 600,000 cars per year.
As a reminder, the Gigafactory in Fremont (California) is Tesla’s oldest factory. Shanghai (China), Texas (USA) and Berlin-Grünheide (Germany) are much more modern factories.
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