Tesla boss Elon Musk wants to produce the first electric cars for Europe in Germany by December at the latest. The company boss announced this at an open day at his first European plant in Grünheide near Berlin over the weekend. After that, it will take until the end of next year for production to ramp up. By then, a battery factory that is still under construction should be in operation next to the car factory, said Musk.
Musk announced the so-called Gigafactory at the end of 2019 and built it in less than two years. In the future, around 12,000 employees will build up to 500,000 electric cars a year there. According to the company, as many parts as possible should be produced on site in order to become independent of suppliers.
So far only provisional permits
So far, Musk has only had early approvals to build the factory. The last environmental approval for the entire project is still pending, and several hundred objections are still being discussed. Critics complain that the industrial building is partly being built in a water protection area. Both opponents and supporters of the project, however, expect that the approval will be granted in the next few weeks.
Musk defended his project against concerns that the production was diverting too much water from the region. “Our factory uses very little water,” he said. Tesla’s mission is the fastest possible transition to renewable energies and climate protection. At the same time, he recruited qualified employees from all over Europe. “I’m a little worried that we won’t be able to hire enough people,” said Musk.
Folk festival in front of the Tesla plant
The authorities had admitted up to 9,000 people at the same time for the open house called “County Fair”. In front of the car factory hundreds of people cavorted on a kind of fairground with a Ferris wheel and sausage stalls when the weather was perfect.
Visitors with pre-ordered tickets were able to visit the plant and also test drive in the Tesla Model Y, which is to be produced in Grünheide. In the factory, robots are already running in test operation on production lines. Above all, Tesla emphasizes the importance of its own die-casting facility and state-of-the-art paint shop.
In addition to parts and cars, beer will also be produced.
Billions in funding and investment
The car factory at the gates of Berlin is considered to be one of the most important industrial projects in East Germany. Musk originally estimated the construction costs at 1.1 billion euros, but said in the meantime that the budget would be exceeded. For the battery factory, Tesla has the prospect of public funding, which, according to media reports, could also amount to 1.1 billion euros. A total of around 5 billion euros is to be invested.