GRUENHEIDE, Germany – Tesla on Tuesday held a question-and-answer session about its planned expansion in Brandenburg state. The expansion aims to make Tesla’s local plant the largest car factory in Germany.
Currently, Tesla produces around 5,000 cars a week. The company hopes to double the plant’s production capacity to 1 million vehicles a year and add 50 gigawatt hours of battery production capacity. However, no timeline has been provided.
Tesla’s goal is to surpass market leader Volkswagen by increasing output at its European production hub in Brandenburg. Volkswagen’s largest plant in Wolfsburg has a capacity for 800,000 vehicles but only produced around 400,000 vehicles last year.
While Volkswagen still dominates the EV market share in the region, Tesla is making significant strides. Its Model Y was the best-selling car in Europe in the first quarter of this year.
To address concerns that could potentially postpone its application to local authorities, Tesla workers answered questions from locals at the event. The queries covered topics such as water usage, biodiversity protection, and the environmental impact assessment for the expansion.
The first phase of the plant’s construction faced delays due to the high number of objections from local citizens, primarily focused on environmental concerns.
Tesla has consistently argued that the plant’s impact is relatively low and highlighted the environmental benefits of electric vehicles in combating climate change.
The full application for the expansion will be published by Tesla on Wednesday. Citizens will have until mid-September to file objections to the expansion plans.
According to Tesla, the planned expansion will include a new 700-by-700-metre production space, which is double the size of the current production hall. It may also involve increasing the staff count from around 10,000 to 22,500.
During the event, attendees expressed concerns about how Tesla will expand the plant without using additional water. Tesla has stated that it will achieve this by recycling the 1.4 million cubic meters of water it is licensed to use. One attendee named Emily highlighted the water scarcity issue, mentioning that even her animals don’t have sufficient water.
However, some attendees were more optimistic about the situation. Matthias Handschick, a 68-year-old local resident, commented that water scarcity is not only a Tesla problem but a general problem. He expressed support for Tesla’s water recycling solution, stating that such innovative solutions are necessary.
Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Nette Noestlinger and Leon Malherbe in Gruenheide, Germany Writing by Christoph Steitz Editing by Louise Heavens and Matthew Lewis