Two years after the start of construction, the first European Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin officially gets underway. The head of the American company, Elon Muskflew this Tuesday to his factory to deliver the first German-produced electric cars to its customers. On Monday night, Musk wrote on Twitter: “We are delighted to deliver the first series production vehicles of the Berlin-Brandenburg Giga!”
Brandenburg welcomes this billion-dollar project, which will employ 12,000 people in the future and plans to produce 500,000 cars a year, as a signal for all of eastern Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck were present at the opening ceremony.
Environmentalists, for their part, continue to protest, mainly due to concerns about the supply of drinking water. According to a citizen initiative of Grünheide, the objections during the process were ignored and they have acted “to the limit of what is legal”. For them, Tesla electric cars are “everything but climate friendly.”
Construction at your own risk
Minister Habeck welcomed the “huge investment” from the US electric car maker. Tesla would have launched the construction “basically without public financing” and “has decidedly opted for Germany as its business headquarters,” Habeck said in Grünheide. “This short factory construction time can benchmark Tesla’s speed in other areas,” he added.
Tesla took the risk of building much of the factory with preliminary permits. Final approval for the plant was only given in early March. The company sees itself on a “mission to accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy.” In any case, the German car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, BMW or Audi, will face off in their own country with the gigantic factory in a new competition in the electromobility segment, which is growing rapidly. Musk, a pioneer of electric cars, had announced this million-dollar investment in November 2019 and began construction of his factory in February 2020.
Musk originally wanted to start production at Grünheide in mid-2021. But approval took longer than expected, in part because Tesla only later registered a battery factory, which is still under construction. The final approval of the gigantic plant – in a total area of more than 227,000 square meters – did not take place until only about two weeks ago, when test operations were already underway. Quickly, Tesla tried to work with the imposed conditions.
Positive effect for East Germany
According to the company, more than 3,000 people already work at Grünheide. On the company’s website there are job offers in dozens of areas. Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke sees this as a positive effect for all of eastern Germany: “I think we are already in a very good phase of development in eastern Germany. After more than 30 years, it was about time.” On the other hand, Woidke dismissed concerns about the factory’s water consumption. “There is no problem because of the volume,” Woidke said, arguing that although the new factory is situated in a water protection area, all the requirements would have been met.
The first car to be built at Grünheide is the Y Performance model, a medium-sized vehicle, weighing two tons, with a range of 514 kilometers and acceleration from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 3.7 seconds. The company puts the entry price at 63,990 euros.
Tesla highlights that the factory was built with sustainability criteria, that the impact on the fauna of the area was low and that trees were replanted in other areas. And the water consumption per vehicle would be less than the competition.
Pioneer region in electromobility
For its part, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) praised the rapid implementation of the project. “Tesla’s speed should serve as a model for investment projects in Germany,” BDI president Siegfried Russwurm told the DPA agency. Strong support from the Government would have considerably accelerated the process. German industrial companies would like similar support for each approval procedure.
With the opening of Tesla, eastern Germany is strengthening its role as an international pioneer in electromobility, believes Birgit Dietze, CEO of IG Metall, Germany’s powerful metalworkers’ union: “The VW plant in Zwickau, as well as the BMW and Porsche in Leipzig, that of Mercedes and Daimler in Marienfelde (Berlin) and Ludwigsfelde (Brandenburg), and many others represent the considerable potential of the region in the global competition for leadership in the expansion of climate-neutral mobility.” (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
