German Tesla factory opens: Impressions from the first day

Hans Christian Dirscherl

Update March 22, 4:50 p.m.:

The opening of the Tesla factory in Grünheide and the handover of the first Tesla Model Y Performance manufactured in Germany to German customers is taking place as planned. Here are some impressions of the day via Twitter:

Remarkable: The factory was built without German subsidies. That will be different at Intel’s chip factory in Magdeburg, for example. Tesla even expressly waived government support.

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck also want to get some of the splendor of the opening day and are present on site. However, both politicians had no special part in the successful settlement, but the Brandenburg government in particular had campaigned for it. The Prime Minister of Brandenburg, Dietmar Woidke (SPD), is rightly present at the opening. Brandenburg’s Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach, who was very committed to the Tesla settlement, is also happy about today.

Elon Musk, in turn, thanks Germany with a tweet:

Musk had already announced the day before that he was looking forward to finally being able to hand over the first vehicles from the new Tesla factory:

Environmental activists caused a motorway closure because they abseiled from a motorway bridge over the A10 or put up protest posters.

update end

The US energy and automotive group Tesla will start delivering the first Model Y Performance vehicles produced in the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg today, Tuesday. A detailed test report of the long-range version of the Tesla Model Y can be found here: Raging Pampers bomber in test.

Some facts about the factory in Grünheide

The factory in Grünheide is the fourth Tesla Gigafactory. The Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg is the fifth major Tesla production facility worldwide, alongside the production facility in Fremont, California, and the four gigafactories in Reno/Nevada, Buffalo/New York and Shanghai/China.

The German Tesla factory is the company’s first production site in Europe and, according to Tesla, will be the “most advanced, sustainable and efficient factory to date”. A total of 30 cars will be handed over to the first German customers today at the start of deliveries. The

Model Y Performance

is celebrating its German and European premiere, as Tesla emphasizes.

After the announcement in November 2019, the construction phase began in spring 2020. Delivery of the vehicles was originally supposed to begin in summer 2021, but legal disputes and individual protests delayed the approval process. However, the factory has now been officially approved and has started production of Tesla’s Model Y all-electric compact SUV. The Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg will produce cars for all European Tesla markets.

The site of the factory is 300 hectares and the different production units together occupy a total area of ​​over 227,000 m².

Up to 12,000 employees

According to Tesla, at full capacity, up to 12,000 employees will produce cars, battery cells, batteries, electric motors, plastic parts, seats, axles and much more. With an expected annual production capacity of 500,000 Model Y and battery production of up to 50 GWh, the factory will be the largest electric car factory in Europe in terms of capacity, as Tesla emphasizes. The Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg will also officially become Europe’s first production site for electric vehicles and batteries in the same place.

German Tesla factory in Grünheide: From 2700 euros for unskilled workers and the unemployed

A little more than 3000 employees currently work in the factory. Tesla plans to hire thousands more employees in the coming months. From production to business operations, the supply chain, plant construction to engineering or cell production – the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg offers jobs in a variety of exciting fields of employment, you can find the vacancies here.

This is how Tesla meets critics

Tesla is trying to defuse criticism from some environmentalists and advocacy groups. Tesla emphasizes that it is working with local authorities and associations to minimize the impact on wildlife. The former pine forest is to be replaced by a forest made up of 60 percent hardwood, “which should be more robust, diverse and ecologically valuable”. Tesla also wants to make the water consumption per car significantly lower than the industry average (2.2 m³ compared to 3.7 m³ ), In addition, significantly less solvents are to be used in the paint shop. The planned energy consumption per battery cell produced is also to be reduced by 70%.

Elon Musk hands over the first cars personally

The 30 German customers who receive their car at the factory today will receive a Tesla Model Y Performance. According to a report by the Tagesschau, Elon Musk will personally hand over the vehicles today in Grünheide. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economics Minister Robert Habeck are also said to be present.

The Model Y Performance has a theoretical WLTP range of 514 km and comes with 21-inch super turbine wheels and performance brakes. A carbon spoiler is designed to improve stability at high speeds. The Model Y Performance accelerates from 0-100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds and drives with all-wheel drive.

The Model Y Performance starts in Germany at 63,990 euros (plus state subsidy) and is currently expected to be available for new orders from April 2022.