In contrast to what Tesla has been used to so far, the new Model Y is even expected to come onto the market earlier than initially announced: At the launch of the 2019 business figures, Tesla announced that the production of the electric crossover at the Fremont main plant had begun deliveries in the US is said to exist in the first quarter of this year. Many European customers then hoped that Model Y would reach the old continent sooner – but now there are signs that they have to wait until Tesla’s German Gigafactory in Brandenburg (Giga Berlin) is ready. That should be the case in the summer of 2021 at the earliest.
This, according to a teslamag reader on Twitter this week, was made clear to him by a Tesla employee on the phone. When asked about the circumstances, he explained: “I called Tesla Frankfurt because I had a little problem with my Model Y order. Since the employee was quite talkative and nice, I asked if he already knew more about delivery in Germany. ” The customer service representative then explained that the current plan was not to import Model Y into Germany from California or China. California has no capacity for export because demand in the United States clearly exceeds production. Instead, you wait for the production in the Giga Berlin.
Just got one #Tesla-Employed on the phone, who told me that there are currently no plans to import Model Y to Germany (I also suspect Europe), but that this is only in the # Gigafactory4 should be manufactured. @teslamag @EmilSenkel
– Gerrit Ahrendt (@Peacecamper) February 18, 2020
An inquiry from teslamag.de to Tesla regarding the employee’s statements on Model Y initially remained unanswered. On the one hand, they sound plausible, because the production capacity in Fremont is limited and the demand for the latest Tesla should at least not be less than for the barely cheaper but smaller Model 3. In addition, CEO Elon Musk has explained that Tesla is also due to that Gigafabriken on several continents so that they don’t have to build many different designs of their electric cars at one location.
On the other hand, it is questionable whether Tesla will really keep its European customers waiting for the Model Y until at least summer 2021 (only then will the Gigafactory in Grünheide produce according to official information). In any case, the German Tesla configurator still says, “Production is scheduled to start in early 2021”, while in the USA, “first deliveries will start in March 2020”. However, even early 2021 would be earlier for Germany than would have been expected at the end of 2020, which Tesla had initially announced for the USA.
The German Gigafactory production start in summer 2021 is planned so far, but not certain. The Higher Administrative Court (OVG) Berlin-Brandenburg had temporarily stopped clearing the pine forest on the property for the planned Gigafactory near Grünheide on February 15th. The final decision on the legal protection request of the environmental association “Green League” should be made before the end of February, but at least delays appear possible as a result – and the project is still at the beginning.
If production in Germany cannot start on time, Tesla might reschedule and deliver Model Y from the USA to Europe, the Tesla employee is said to have told the reader. However, it is not clear to what extent his interlocutor passed on internal information or only his own assessments. Overall, however, he appeared to be “very safe and reliable”.
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