Tesla battery production in Texas before Grünheide

In Germany, Tesla continues to focus on battery production but wants to prioritise the USA first because of the prospect of extensive US government subsidies. Battery production in Texas is to be ramped up sooner than planned, but in at Giga Berlin in Grünheide later than planned.

The company made this clear to partners in the Grünheide region near Berlin on Friday, responding to rumours to that effect. The German news agency DPA-AFX reported that Tesla would ideally like to ramp up both battery factories as soon as possible.

The brief report also says that the rapid ramp-up of battery production in Austin could also be supported “with the supply of parts and with engineers” from Germany. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal had reported that Tesla was planning to transport ordered cell production machines to the US that were originally intended for use in the German factory. According to insiders quoted in the report, the project for Germany is to be paused for the moment.

It is still unclear exactly how long the latest rescheduling will delay the start of battery production at Giga Berlin. Most recently, after a Tesla information event about the expansion of the plant in Grünheide, it was speculatively said that battery production there would start in the first quarter of 2023. The building for battery production has already been erected and work on the interior of the building is currently underway. So far, no production machines have been sighted at the plant.

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1 Comment

about „Tesla battery production in Texas before Grünheide“

Pat

17.09.2022 um 17:20

This likely has more to do with politics than anything else. In order for Tesla to re-qualify for the full $7500 tax credit in the US they can not use batteries imported from China where their supply of CATL, BYD and even most LG cells come from.There are no such restrictions for German made vehicles selling throughout Europe. European buyers also have much less stigma against Chinese produced vehicles.One thing Germany is going to find is that Tesla will be increasing sales substantially in Europe regardless of how slow the expansion at Giga Berlin goes due to bureaucracy. They will simply import cells from China for production there. And continue to expand production in China and import vehicles to Europe from there too. Tesla’s demand far exceeds their production capacity and it will continue to be that way for a couple more years at least. They have the luxury of shifting production to locations with less resistance. This ability will only increased as they are preparing to announce the location(s) for the next Gigafactory(ies) later this year.