The German state of Brandenburg conditionally approved on Friday the gigabyte factory near Berlin of the American company, ending the months of delay for the investment of 5 billion euros, reports Reuters.
Gigafabrica, which is the key to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s ambitions to defeat European market leader Volkswagen, was originally scheduled to open last summer.
Germany’s largest carmaker has the lead in Europe with a 25% share of electric vehicle (EV) sales compared to Tesla’s 13%.
Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke said in a press briefing that the approval marked “a big step forward”, adding that the Tesla plant will be a major industrial and technological engine for Germany and the region.
About 2,600 of the factory’s estimated 12,000 workers have been hired so far, unions said last month, and Tesla is in talks with many parts suppliers in the region to supply as much as possible locally, reducing waiting times. and costs.
Underlining fierce competition from Tesla, Volkswagen announced on Friday that it would spend about € 2 billion on a new plant near its Wolfsburg headquarters to produce Trinity, the first of a new generation of electric vehicles for the German carmaker. cars, construction to begin next year.
Tesla’s conditional building permit does not mean that the US electric vehicle manufacturer can start production immediately.
Tesla must first demonstrate that it meets a number of conditions, including water use and air pollution control. Only then will Tesla obtain the long-awaited operating license and actually start launching the 500,000 battery-powered vehicles it wants to produce annually at the new factory, located in the small Gruenheide community.
The launch of production in Germany means that Tesla will be able to deliver its Model Y cars to European customers faster and cheaper, after fulfilling European orders from its Shanghai plant in recent months, while waiting for the German factory’s approval.
Tesla intends to show that it meets the requirements in the next two weeks, Brandenburg Environment Minister Axel Vogel said, while objections could be filed next month.
The next challenge for Tesla will be to increase production as soon as possible, which Musk said at a German fair in October would take longer than the factory to build.
Local environmental groups have long feared that the plant will have a negative impact on local habitat.
Numerous public consultations, primarily focused on this issue, delayed the process, with Musk repeatedly expressing irritation at the German bureaucracy.
The plant, which Tesla has begun building on pre-approval permits, will also include a battery plant capable of generating more than 50 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year – surpassing European competitors.
Batteries for cars made in Germany will initially come from China, Musk said, but Tesla plans to reach volume production at the German battery plant by the end of next year.
source: News.ro, Photo source: Tesla / Facebook
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