Tesla is seeking to acquire 100-hectare land near the Berlin Gigafactory to expand its Berlin factory. Tesla intends to buy a plot of about 100 hectares located due east of the Berlin plant, the RE1 railway and between the L23 and L38 national roads. Tesla had announced in 2020 that the company would ship as many of its suppliers’ products as possible to the Berlin plant by train and that fully assembled Tesla vehicles would also be shipped by rail.
Tesla is currently planning more storage areas and a cargo terminal for this purpose. It is reported that the plan has not yet been finalized, and the price of the land has not yet been determined. However, according to foreign media reports, the price of the land may be around 13 million euros (about 13.7 million US dollars). If the plan goes through and is approved, construction could begin next summer.
Meanwhile, Tesla is currently trying to ramp up production of the Model Y at its Berlin plant but has encountered some challenges. The environmental group Green League has applied to Oder-Spree regional authorities to revoke the plant’s operating license after learning of a leak in the paint shop at Tesla’s Berlin plant.
According to information from relevant departments, on April 11, 15,000 liters of paint mixture were leaked from the paint shop of Tesla’s Berlin plant, which was subsequently pumped out by a disposal company. A day later, two to three liters of paint spilled onto the ground while loading. The paint is thought to harm water quality, but one report claims the paint did not seep into the sewer system or groundwater.
Still, the Green League is demanding that the license for Tesla’s Berlin plant be revoked until Tesla has finished paving some unpaved areas around the paint shop to prevent hazardous materials from entering the aquifer. The Green League claims the organization will ask the Ministry of Environment to intervene if the district does not act on its demands.
A person familiar with the matter said that the paint shop is the main bottleneck currently facing Tesla’s Berlin plant production.