Electric car maker
Tesla welcomes visitors to the first European plant in Grünheide
Some of the visitors to Tesla’s open house are likely to have come for one reason above all: to sit in a model made by the US electric car manufacturer. Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Shortly before the planned start of production in Grünheide, Tesla tries to make all criticism forgotten. The public presentation of the Giga Factory includes a ferris wheel, sausages and test drives.
A few weeks before the expected start of production, the US electric car manufacturer Tesla presented its first European plant to the public.
In front of the car factory in Grünheide near Berlin, hundreds of people romped around at lunchtime on a kind of festival area with a ferris wheel and sausage stalls. A performance by company founder Elon Musk is on the agenda for the afternoon.
Musk announced the factory in late 2019 and built it in less than two years. In the future, around 12,000 employees will build around 500,000 electric cars a year there. Musk plans to start production this year.
Musk’s controversial construction practice
A battery factory is built next to the car factory. Musk is building with early approvals. The final approval for the entire project is still pending. Critics complain that the industrial building is partly being built in a water protection area.
The authorities had admitted up to 9,000 people at the same time for the open house called “County Fair”. Visitors were able to tour the factory and also test drive the Tesla Model Y, which is to be produced in Grünheide. Police reported slow traffic on access roads, but no major problems. Tesla had asked visitors to come by train.
The car factory at the gates of Berlin is considered to be one of the most important industrial projects in East Germany. Musk originally estimated the construction costs at 1.1 billion euros, but said in the meantime that the budget would be exceeded. For the battery factory, Tesla has the prospect of public funding, which, according to media reports, could also amount to 1.1 billion euros.