Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly expects Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg to start producing the company’s Model Y electric vehicle in November or December despite numerous delays.
Bloomberg reported that Musk revealed this projected timeline during “an Oktoberfest-style county fair” Tesla hosted at the site on Oct. 9. Production of the vehicles can only begin if German authorities grant Tesla permission to continue work on the Gigafactory, however, which environmental activists have opposed due to concerns about its potential ecological impact.
Tesla needed to clear 92 hectares of forest to make room for the Gigafactory. The company was ordered to stop clearing those trees in February 2020 because it hadn’t yet received permission to construct the Gigafactory. It was allowed to resume clearing the site just a few days later, but as of Sep. 29, regulators still hadn’t decided if the factory itself could be constructed.
Tesla describes Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg as its “most advanced, sustainable, and efficient facility yet” on its website. “Slated for completion this year,” the company says, “it will manufacture hundreds of thousands of Model Y vehicles and millions of battery cells.” Both of those claims remain in question despite Musk’s prediction that production will start soon.
Even if Tesla is allowed to move forward with Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, the site’s output will be low to start, with Musk reportedly saying he expects it to produce 5,000 to 10,000 vehicles per week by the end of 2022. It will also have to import batteries produced in China until (or unless) the company is allowed to start manufacturing battery cells within Germany.
