Gigafactory near Berlin
Not just because of tax benefits: why Tesla is not currently manufacturing battery cells in Grünheide
The production of Tesla Model Y in a production hall of the Gigafactory on the open day (archive picture from 2021)
© dpa central image | Patrick Pleul / Picture Alliance
The vehicles from the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide have so far used battery cells from third-party production. Tax advantages in the USA lure the car manufacturer – but there is another decisive reason why Tesla does not manufacture the cells itself in Germany for the time being.
In mid-September there were reports that Tesla wanted to put its construction plans for the battery factory in Grünheide on hold. The reason for this should be a new law that provides tax advantages for battery production in the USA. However, the state of Brandenburg then continued to assume that the battery factory in Grünheide would be built. The US automaker itself also confirmed its intention.
Since the opening of the Tesla factory in Grünheide at the end of March, cars have been rolling off the assembly line there – but with smaller battery cells from China. The reasons for this are not only the high energy costs in Germany and the new tax breaks in the USA, but also a new process for manufacturing battery electrodes.
Test systems are currently working successfully in the Tesla Gigafactory, but it will still take some time before large-scale production can be achieved. Several experts, including those close to Tesla, said that to the “Handelsblatt”. Accordingly, the first priority is to ensure the dry coating of the electrodes, an important part of batteries. Until that is done, Tesla does not want to carry out the entire cell production in Grünheide and instead only wants to research the electrodes in its German plant. The remaining production steps are to take place at the US plant in Austin.
CEO Elon Musk is sticking to the construction project for his battery cell factory in Grünheide near Berlin, but the start of series production is not expected until 2024 at the earliest. The building permit for battery cell production in Grünheide is valid until 2025. This means that Tesla still has enough time to fully build the battery factory.
Tesla wants to save costs and resources
According to one expert, the innovative dry coating process, in which Tesla has a certain pioneering position, should reduce the company’s capital expenditure by more than one billion euros. Tesla wants to save more than half of the costs in the production of a Model Y.
In addition to the financial incentives in the USA, which are paid for the construction of plants for electric cars and battery production in your own country, the comparatively lower electricity prices make the US business lucrative. Because electricity costs two to three times as much in Germany as in the United States.
In addition, the process not only saves energy, but also water – the production of cars and batteries produces not inconsiderable amounts of water, which caused concerns about the water supply in the region around Brandenburg even before the end of construction. According to environmentalists, it is not secured for Tesla. The Gigafactory was built in a drinking water protection area.
Sources: “Handelsblatt“, with material from the dpa