The largest EV production facility in Europe will be built by Tesla
As a crucial next step in its ambitious goal to transform the location into Europe’s largest auto production, Tesla has asked German municipal authorities for permission to make significant alterations to its facility close to Berlin.
The extensive list of alterations Tesla proposes to make at the facility was revealed in application papers released by the local environment ministry and water authority on Wednesday, a day after Tesla attempted to allay community worries with a question-and-answer session on the expansion.
In the end, Tesla plans to build a facility that could manufacture 100 gigawatt hours of battery output and 1 million vehicles annually, which would be more than Volkswagen could at its Wolfsburg headquarters.
The records state that the first half of 2024 should see the implementation of the modifications detailed in the proposal, which are merely the first of three rounds of alterations and include building a battery cell testing facility and expanding water recycling.
Tesla has pledged not to use any more water capacity for the expansion, instead recycling the 1.4 million cubic meters of water it is permitted to use.
When operating at full capacity, the factory would produce more than Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant, which lags behind with a capacity of 800,000 cars and an output of just 400,000 vehicles the previous year.
Tesla hasn’t given a timetable for scaling up production, but the facility in Grunheide presently turns out around 5,000 vehicles every week. According to the paper, modifications also include building new components, such a material storage facility, as well as extending or changing existing elements of the facility, like the press shop and paint shop.
Due to a significant number of local residents’ complaints, mostly over the plant’s effect on the environment and water use, Tesla has had to postpone the plant’s anticipated opening date. Residents have until the middle of September to protest to the most recent plans.
