Factory in Brandenburg
Minister optimistic about final approval for Tesla
Workers wait at an entrance to the construction site for the Tesla car factory in the early morning. Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Brandenburg’s Economics Minister Steinbach is optimistic that the Tesla plant in Grünheide can open this year. The approval for the first European e-car factory is still pending.
Brandenburg’s Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) remains optimistic that the first electric cars from the factory of the US electric car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide near Berlin will roll off the assembly line this year.
However, he could not give a guarantee for this, said Steinbach on Monday in Potsdam. He assumes, however, that the objections to the renewed online discussion will not give rise to any “huge problems”. The mood in the meetings of the task force for the settlement of the US company was extremely relaxed, he described. Steinbach did not give any further details.
The approval of Tesla’s first electric car factory in Europe is still pending around two years after the settlement was announced. Tesla boss Elon Musk wants production to start in December at the latest. So far, Tesla has been building through early approvals.
In an initial discussion on the Internet, environmentalists and local residents warned that drinking water in the region could become scarce because of the factory. They also fear negative consequences for the forest and animals and questioned the concept for dealing with incidents. Tesla had rejected the criticism.