Thursday, January 21, 2021
Federal government approves preparations
Tesla is allowed to start building battery factories
The first Teslas manufactured in Germany are to roll off the production line in July. Company founder Musk not only wants to build cars in Grünheide, Brandenburg, but also the largest battery factory in the world. At least the first steps are now possible on the way there.
The US electric car manufacturer Tesla can start early with preparations for its planned battery factory near the car factory in Grünheide near Berlin. A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics said that Tesla had been allowed to start preliminary work on application. This also applies to other companies that are part of a major Europe-wide battery cell production project. The financial risk lies with the company.
The Federal Ministry of Economics submitted the second major European project for battery cell production to the European Commission on December 10, the spokeswoman said. This included almost 50 companies in 12 EU countries, including eleven companies from Germany. This concerns applications for the approval of aid.
The preparatory work should begin without losing the later chance of federal funding, although the aid has not yet been approved. But that is independent of a building permit or environmental permit. The Federal Ministry of Economics is not responsible for this.
Tesla is building an electric car factory in Grünheide. Production is scheduled to start in July. Tesla boss Elon Musk had promised last year that the world's largest battery factory would also be built in Grünheide. The car factory has not yet received an environmental permit, and Tesla is building with early approvals.
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