Musk confirms Tesla plans for 'world's biggest' battery cells plant in Germany
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Artist's impression of the EV plant near Berlin. Image: Tesla
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Tesla chief Elon Musk has confirmed plans to build the "world’s biggest” battery cell manufacturing plant near Berlin in Germany.
Musk said the proposed gigafactory, in the state of Brandenburg, would initially start operations with an annual production capacity of around 100GWh – increasing "over time” to 200GWh then 250GWh per year.
The gigafactory is set to be built at the site where Tesla has already started building its first European car plant, in the municipality of Grünheide, although Musk did not say when battery cell manufacturing was expected to begin.
However, Musk told the European Battery Conference he was "pretty confident” the battery-cell factory would be the biggest of its kind in the world once production capacity reached 250GWh.
Germany’s federal minister for economic affairs and energy, Peter Altmaier, told local media the government welcomed Tesla’s plans – although Brandenburg state officials have reportedly yet to receive a formal planning application for the battery cells facility.
Tesla said Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg "will be the most advanced high-volume electric vehicle production plant in the world”. "Starting with Model Y production at launch, we will establish original vehicle design and engineering for worldwide markets out of Germany.”
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Musk said the proposed gigafactory, in the state of Brandenburg, would initially start operations with an annual production capacity of around 100GWh – increasing "over time” to 200GWh then 250GWh per year.
The gigafactory is set to be built at the site where Tesla has already started building its first European car plant, in the municipality of Grünheide, although Musk did not say when battery cell manufacturing was expected to begin.
However, Musk told the European Battery Conference he was "pretty confident” the battery-cell factory would be the biggest of its kind in the world once production capacity reached 250GWh.
Germany’s federal minister for economic affairs and energy, Peter Altmaier, told local media the government welcomed Tesla’s plans – although Brandenburg state officials have reportedly yet to receive a formal planning application for the battery cells facility.
Tesla said Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg "will be the most advanced high-volume electric vehicle production plant in the world”. "Starting with Model Y production at launch, we will establish original vehicle design and engineering for worldwide markets out of Germany.”
Related articles in our archive