Elon Musk may be personally delivering the first Berlin Tesla-made cars to new owners.
Brandenburg state environment office has given Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) the final approval to start production at its Giga Berlin factory. The automobile company has been awaiting approval for a license to begin electric vehicle (EV) and battery production since its factory construction began at Gruenheide. The Tesla Giga Berlin factory project originally started in November 2019, with the company hoping to commence operations in 2021. It set a timeline to emulate its Chinese Gigafactory in Shanghai after the $2 billion projects have been completed at full speed. From gaining permission to required construction work, it began within six months and was completed within 30 months. Production started after 36 months, and full minimum tax revenues were paid after 60 months. It is the first foreign company to wholly own a car manufacturing plant in the country. The estimated cost of the Giga Berlin was $1.6 billion.
Tesla to Begin Operations at Giga Berlin
The automobile’s mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy makes it strive to have manufacturing factories across continents. The Giga Berlin is crucial to the mission Tesla has regarding sustainable energy. The company needs a manufacturing base in Europe to supply the region’s fast-growing electric-vehicle market. There are possibilities that the European market will remain much bigger and more competitive than the US market.
Elon Musk may be personally delivering the first Berlin Tesla-made cars to new owners. The owners of the Model Y cars will be driving off in them. Another positive news aside from the approval is Tesla’s Long Range variant production test. The testing process may likely occur at the upcoming grand opening as well
The rigid process of German bureaucracy was responsible for the delay. Also, Tesla had a court matter over water use. Several publications on the environmental impact of the plant will have contributed further to the delay. Last year, Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk reacted to publications projecting a depletion in water supply in the area as “completely wrong.”
During the wait, Elon Musk took to Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) to lament a consultation process requiring locals to express disagreement to the Berlin Tesla factory. He wrote:
“What they are doing is just not right.”
At the time, Tesla planned to begin the production of Model Y cars in December in hopes of receiving approval before then. A Brandenburg state environment office spokesperson wrote in an email:
“We are indeed in the final phase of the emission control law approval process.”
Tesla is, however, required to meet certain requirements before production can begin in the environment. Currently, TSLA is a premarket trading price of $876.06.
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