Electric car manufacturer Tesla opened its first European factory Tuesday on the outskirts of Berlin in an effort to challenge German automakers on their home turf.

Figure 1: Elon Musk opens Tesla’s first European plant, near Berlin.

Figure 1 shows thatTesla cars are parked at the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Electric car manufacturer Tesla is opening its first European factory on the outskirts of Berlin in an effort to challenge German automakers on their home turf. The company says its new “Gigafactory” will employ 12,000 people and produce 500,000 vehicles a year.[1]

Tesla officially began making cars in Europe on Tuesday, opening an assembly plant in a critical market where Elon Musk, the chief executive, plans to build 500,000 electric vehicles a year.

Mr. Musk escorted Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and other officials on a tour of the huge, low-slung $7 billion plant just outside Berlin. It was constructed in a little more than two years, a speed that amazed German officials and commentators.

“Electromobility will shape the mobility of the future,” Mr. Scholz.

Robert Habeck, the German vice chancellor and the country’s economy minister, said it was “a special day for the region, a special day also for Germany and a special day for the mobility transformation in Germany.” [2]

Elon Musk made the trip to Gigafactory Berlin to personally hand over the first few cars to customers and he delivered a brief speech.

The CEO thanked everyone involved in making the factory happen and made sure to reassure people that Tesla will “do the right thing” with the factory: “Tesla will make sure that this is a gemstone for the area, for Germany, and for the world.”

Musk reiterated his vision that electric vehicles, solar, and wind power, along with batteries for energy storage can solve climate change and that Gigafactory Berlin is a “big step” toward achieving that. He wishes that those solutions make people more optimistic about the future.[3]

References:

1. https://nationworldnews.com/tesla-opens-gigafactory-near-berlin-its-1st-in-europe/
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/22/business/elon-musk-tesla-germany.html
3. https://electrek.co/2022/03/22/elon-musk-delivers-firs-germany-tesla-model-y-gigafactory-berlin/

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), Elon Musk opens Tesla’s first European plant, near Berlin, Anatechmaz, pp. 110