Tesla Gigafactory Berlin Is Almost Allowed to Build Cars, Report Says
The factory received conditional permission to finish construction but needs to prove it's up to snuff environmentally before it can start vehicle production.
Tesla almost has a green light to start production in Germany.
Tesla's Gigafactories are massive in every sense of the word. They require tons of people and space and resources, but they also seem to come together and become operational a lot faster than you might expect. Except, that is, for Tesla's first European Gigafactory outside Berlin, which has been languishing in bureaucracy for months. Only now, according to a report published Friday by Reuters, that's mostly changing.
I say mostly because, while the German government has given Tesla the go-ahead to continue construction in Brandenburg, that permission is conditional. This means that it can finish construction, but in order to get an operation permit, Tesla has to prove that it meets German standards for air and water pollution control, among other things, and friend, you know those standards are probably exacting.
The German Gigafactory is key to Tesla's plan for taking a big, juicy bite out of the Volkswagen Group's EV market share in Europe. Building vehicles locally would likely help Tesla by making them more cost-effective to produce, thanks to reduced shipping costs, as well as quicker to deliver to customers since the cars won't have to come all the way from Shanghai.
Tesla claims that it will show German officials the proof they're looking for to get its operating permit within the next two weeks, which would be impressive, but then again, we now know how good Tesla is with deadlines.
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