Tesla has offered a peek inside its new Giga Berlin facility located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of the German capital.
To celebrate Giga Berlin’s completion, Tesla invited members of the public to a kind of county fair event that included tours of the new factory. Held on Saturday, the Giga Fest shindig was also attended by Tesla chief Elon Musk.
A video (below) dropped by the electric-car maker on Sunday offers a glimpse inside the factory that’s set to become a key part of Tesla’s European efforts over the coming years.
Giga Berlin will assemble the Tesla Model Y for European customers, and also produce batteries and powertrains for its electric vehicles.
Tesla is keen to fire up the production line before the end of this year, and by the end of 2022 wants the plant pumping out between 5,000 and 10,000 electric cars per week.
But Giga Berlin cannot begin operations until local authorities give their consent as they continue to assess the facility’s environmental impact on the surrounding area. Ever since plans for the plant were first laid out in 2019, environmental protestors have been insisting that building the factory will adversely impact wildlife and local water supplies. The dispute continues to this day, with protestors still intent on protecting parts of the site that are yet to be built upon.
As part of efforts to get protestors onside, Musk has said that Tesla will plant more trees than it felled during the building project, and use as little water as possible to reduce the impact on groundwater levels in one of Germany’s driest regions.
Despite the difficulties, those attending the Giga Fest appeared determined to have a good time. Bloomberg described the atmosphere as “festive,” adding that visitors lined up “for Model Y test rides, a Ferris wheel, and tours of the factory’s interior.”
Musk also retweeted footage of a dance party held at Giga Berlin as part of the Giga Fest celebrations. It’s not clear if the video shows the rave space that the CEO said he was considering including during the design phase of the Giga Berlin.
Party at #GigaBerlin pic.twitter.com/ZvqARpueOp
— Tobias Lindh (@tobilindh) October 9, 2021
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