Tesla Begins Model Y SUV Production At New Gigafactory

• Giga Berlin is located in Grunheide, Germany. 

• It’s the first Tesla factory in Europe, will supply EVs over the continent. 

• The plant was initially planned to open in July 2021. 

• Before its opening, European market Teslas were being imported from China. 

Elon Musk has inaugurated the new Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in Germany with the roll-out of Model Y SUVs. The new manufacturing facility will supply Tesla electric vehicles (EVs) all over Europe. It’s the second overseas production facility for the carmaker outside of its home country -- the other being Gigafactory Shanghai in China. 

First Model Y deliveries at Giga Berlin pic.twitter.com/JCneGrBJRA

— Tesla (@Tesla) March 22, 2022

Giga Berlin was initially scheduled to open in July 2021, but due to the pandemic, bureaucratic and environmental reasons, its inauguration was delayed several months. Tesla received the required approvals earlier in March, and it has already delivered the first 30 cars from the plant.

Reportedly, the carmaker has a workforce of 3,500 people in Giga Berlin, but it plans to scale it up to 12,000 in the future. The facility will produce up to 5 lakh EVs every year once it reaches full production capacity. It’ll also produce 50GWh of batteries each year, possibly by 2025. 

Meanwhile, the carmaker is working on another new production unit in Texas that’s scheduled to open in April. Giga Texas is also the location of Tesla’s next headquarters after the carmaker moves from California.

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Tesla’s new Berlin factory will likely take the pressure off its Chinese facility and also help the carmaker meet the demand for its EVs in Europe, where many countries have high rates of EV adoption.

For India, Tesla is working to introduce its EVs, likely starting with the Model 3 sedan, but an India-based Gigafactory does not seem to be on the horizon.