Tesla seeks to expand German factory to make it biggest in country

Tesla on Tuesday (July 18) confirmed plans to dramatically expand its factory near Berlin in Germany. The company has a goal of doubling production capacity to a million electric vehicles per year. The electric carmaker said that it had filed an application for expanding Gruenheide site. This is Tesla's only plant in the Europe.

Regional environment ministry of Brandenburg state said that the plans will be available for consultation of the public from Wednesday. It also said that citizens will have two months to register any objections.

Tesla said in a statement that it aims to double "production capacity to 1,000,000 vehicles" annually. The company said that it also plans to ramp up battery storage production capacity at the Gruenheide gigafactory from 50 gigawatt hours annually to "100 gigawatt hours".

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Watch | Tesla will pay $735 million to settle a lawsuit filed by shareholders

The proposal would require the construction of a new production hall as well as well as enlarging existing facilities. Due to the expansion the number of employees could rise from current 10,000 "to possibly 22,500", Tesla said.

The company, owned by Elon Musk, did not give a timeline for the project.

The plant is currently churning out around 5,000 electric cars a week -- amounting to 260,000 a year.

If plans proposed by Tesla are approved, the Gruenheide factory will become Germany's largest car factory.

Concerns from the local population

The factory at Gruenheide opened last year following a long two-year approval and construction process which was dogged by administrative and legal obstacles, including complaints from residents worried about the site's environmental impact.

The use of water by the factory has become a key concern among the locals.

Appearing to ease those worries, Tesla said that the "contractually agreed quantities of fresh water will be sufficient" for the larger factory as well.

Tesla has long argued for long that the plant's impact is relatively low. It has referred to benefits of EVs in combating Climate Change.

Also Read | US: New special probe opened into 2018 fatal Tesla crash in California

Tesla on Tuesday held a Q&A session on the expansion of the car plant. The attendees' main concern at Tuesday's event was how the carmaker will manage to expand the plant without using additional water, which Tesla has said it will achieve by recycling the 1.4 million cubic metres of water it is licensed to use.

Germany's powerful IG Metall union welcomed Tesla's committment to the Brandenburg region but voiced concern about "the stark contradiction" between the ambitious plans and recent job cuts at the factory.

"Before the plant is expanded, the improvement of working conditions in Gruenheide must now finally have priority," IG Metall's Dirk Schulze said in a statement on Monday.

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE