After a long process, Tesla’s German gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin is expected to receive final approval this week: The Tagesspiegel newspaper reported on Sunday that it should be on Thursday or Friday. According to the report, a celebration for the opening is already planned. This should take place in just under three weeks and also include the handover of the first Tesla Model Y produced in the new factory. In addition, CEO Elon Musk and high-ranking politicians up to the German chancellor are expected.
Tesla approval this week
According to their information, the Brandenburg state government has been lying since shortly before Christmas all documents necessary for the approval of the Tesla project before, in January we still received answers to questions regarding it. In February it was said that the local authorities had started work on the specific permit text, which would be several hundred pages long. And now it seems almost complete: Tesla will get its approval this Thursday or Friday, reports the daily mirror.
However, as a senior official at the State Environment Ministry mentioned in February, that still means not the official starting signal for series production in the German Tesla factory. After the approval, further requirements would have to be met and evidence provided, which might take a few more weeks, he said.
Celebration with handover of the first Model Y
But according to the report in the Tagesspiegel, this step has already been anticipated: following the approval at the end of this week, a ceremonial opening of the Gigafactory in Grünheide is to take place a good two weeks later, the newspaper writes. Among other things, Tesla CEO Elon Musk will come. In addition, plenty of prominent German politicians are expected. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economics Minister Robert Habeck and perhaps Finance Minister Christian Lindner can be expected.
Brandenburg’s police are preparing for an event with around 500 guests, the daily mirror reported. It should take place on March 22nd or 23rd – that depends on further fine-tuning. On this occasion, the first 30 Model Y produced in Germany will be handed over to their customers. That would an internal email at Tesla that became known at the end of January fit, according to which the electric car will be available for deliveries in the performance variant from March.
