Tesla Giga Factory Berlin Brandenburg. Foto: Tesla Inc.
Tesla wants to produce one million vehicles per year at its plant in Grünheide (Oder-Spree) in the future. The company has once again confirmed its expansion plans to rbb. Instead of the current 5,000 cars per week, 20,000 would then roll off the assembly line. Tesla would then have the largest site for car production in Germany.
Tesla has been producing electric cars in Grünheide for almost a year. More than 11,000 people are now employed there. Currently, around 5,000 cars roll off the assembly line each week. Projected, this corresponds to about 250,000 vehicles per year, half of the initial production target. In the first stage of expansion, the target is 500,000 cars per year, i.e. around 10,000 per week.
The expansion is to take place in three stages. In a first step, the existing production facilities are to be retooled, optimized and the existing production capacities on the site expanded. In a second step, a new production hall with an area of almost 500,000 square meters is to be built. This alone is equivalent to the size of more than 60 soccer fields and is to be built to the north of the existing hall. According to the company, the first application for partial approval also includes plans for a storage building for materials, a warehouse for liquid and hazardous waste, a laboratory for battery cell tests and a recycling center for battery waste. The Group expects the additional storage capacity to enable it to respond better to fluctuations in the supply chains in the future.The goal is to increase production to a total of one million vehicles per year, which will also increase the need for skilled workers. Tesla says it plans to increase its workforce from 11,000 employees to 22,500.
At an information event held on July 18 at the Müggelspreehalle in Hangelsberg (Oder-Spree), several hundred citizens learned about the expansion plans. For example, on aspects of the partial permit application that Tesla submitted last March. This is to include aspects of soil and water protection, immission control, traffic and infrastructure, building law and environmental compatibility as well as nature conservation, operational safety and occupational health and safety. Starting Wednesday, July 19, citizens can participate in the approval process and submit concerns. The application documents are available for public inspection on the Internet and at authorities such as the state office and city halls until August 18. Sources: rbb, Antenne Brandenburg, tagesschau.de
