Tesla got the green light to begin production at its new car factory near Berlin, Germany on Friday.- Tesla plans to eventually supply the European market with 500,000 cars per year from the plant.
Tesla received conditional approval to build cars and batteries at its vast new plant near Berlin on Friday.
The long-awaited green light is a big win for
The construction permit, announced during a press conference with local officials, came a little over two years after Tesla first announced intentions to build a factory in the municipality of Grünheide. Since then, Tesla had been constructing the plant under provisional permits at its own risk.
Officials said Tesla can start production on the condition that it meets certain requirements with respect to the environmental impact of the plant, including air pollution and water usage. It still needs to obtain an operating licence before production can officially begin, which should take roughly two weeks, a spokesperson for the local government told Insider.
Tesla initially planned to start production in July 2021. It faced various delays, including from environmental activists concerned about the plant's water consumption and how tree clearing would impact hibernating snakes and lizards. Tesla also had to resubmit permit applications to reflect changes in its plans.
At times, Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk complained about what they saw as an unnecessarily slow bureaucratic process.
Officials said they expect the plant to begin producing cars this month. Over time, Tesla intends to scale production to 500,000 vehicles per year and employ 12,000 workers at the plant. In 2021, Tesla produced just over 900,000 vehicles between its two facilities in Fremont, California and Shanghai, China.
Another plant in Austin, Texas, has started building Model Y SUVs in small numbers but has not started shipping vehicles to customers, Tesla said in January.