Tesla Model Y is seen in the production hall of Tesla Gigafactory during the open day. In Grunheide, east of Berlin, the first cars are due to go off the production line by the end of 2021.
Patrick Pleul photo union Getty Images
Tesla has received approval to begin commercial production at its new plant near Berlin, local German officials said on Friday.
The conditional license for the Brandenburg vehicle and battery plants was expected after months of delay. Tesla intended to start vehicle production by the beginning of the summer of 2021 in Brandenburg, but the Covid pandemic, supply chain complications and clashes with environmentalists have slowed.
The project, which was approved with a 536-page decision, includes a plant to produce up to 500,000 vehicles a year, according to a translated statement.
The approval does not mean that Tesla can start production immediately. The license is subject to a period of public objection, as well as other conditions for final verification, which include control of air pollution and water use, according to the announcement.
The license comes from the Brandenburg State for the Environment. Another translated communication on approval called the plant a “great success for Brandenburg”.
The German plant is crucial to Tesla’s plans to expand globally after the opening of its Gigafactory 3 plant in Shanghai, China, in late 2019. It is expected to officially open a plant in Texas soon.
In November 2019, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced plans to build a car plant in Germany, he praised German engineering. He said: “Everyone knows that German engineering is exceptional, for sure. This is part of the reason we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany. We will also set up an engineering and design center in Berlin, because Berlin has some of the best art in the world. ”
Although approval of the plant took longer than Tesla expected, local authorities called the process “unusual in a number of ways.” This includes the “relatively short time” of the State Environmental Service
“Inspected and approved not just a factory, but an entire industrial area with several large-scale factories and multiple public participation,” officials said.
In 2020, Tesla capitulated to activists’ demands and agreed to reduce water consumption at its new plant by more than a third. Tesla also had to suspend its construction schedule that year, in particular the deforestation, to prove that the action would not harm wintering snakes and lizards in the area.
The company is still facing obstacles over its contract for water supply in Brandenburg.
On Friday, local environmentalists are expected to claim in an administrative hearing that the Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment did not carry out adequate inspections before licensing the local water company to perform a contract with Tesla.
Reuters said the grievance groups said the factory would use enough water to support a city of 30,000.
If the environmental groups win, Tesla will have to wait for the water supply to negotiate with local authorities where they can get the water they need to run the new Tesla plant.
In recent years, Tesla has sold in the region and competed with European carmakers such as Volkswagen and Audi, exporting vehicles from its plant in Shanghai, China.
According to a Canalys study, 6.5 million electric vehicles (including 4.5 million battery electric vehicles) were sold worldwide in 2021. 2.3 million electric vehicles were sold in Europe last year, representing 19 % of all new cars. Just over half of them, or 54% of all new electric vehicle sales in Europe, are cordless electric vehicles such as those made by Tesla.