Featured image: Brandenburg State Chancellery
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently concluded his visit to Germany. There were several important agenda items, from discussing cooperation with the biopharmaceutical company CureVac to resolving various issues related to Giga Berlin.
The Tesmanian team would like to thank the Minister of Economy, Labor, and Energy of the state of Brandenburg, Jörg Steinbach, for the interview and tireless desire to change our world for the better.
During the trip, Musk met with Minister-President Brandenburg Dietmar Woidke and the Minister of Economy, Labor, and Energy of the state of Brandenburg Jörg Steinbach. During the meeting, politicians and a businessman discussed a number of important issues pertaining to Giga Berlin.
Public hearings begin on September 23rd, after which Tesla may receive an environmental building permit. The deadline for reviewing the company's construction documents and filing objections expired on September 3rd. Germany has a number of laws and regulations that can delay approval procedures for construction projects. That is why, in the country, you can find construction projects that have been ongoing for more than 10 years.
Despite this, Tesla showed great flexibility—demonstrating a willingness and readiness to change the construction plan as needed. Excellent collaboration between Tesla, German politicians, and representatives of the Greens resulted in ultra-fast, efficient construction.
Tesla Giga Berlin Construction Update: Roof Insulation Goes In, as Casting Footings for New Buildings Beginshttps://t.co/NMFzuE7UjT
— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) August 31, 2020
“It was a very pleasant and concentrated conversation. Elon Musk deals with all the details of the Grünheide Gigafactory,“ said Woidke. Tesla's team in Germany is constantly in contact with the team in the United States and directly with Musk.
During the conversation, Tesla CEO expressed his satisfaction with the construction progress. On September 3, Musk visited the Giga Berlin site and the first thing he said as he got out of the car was: "Deutschland roks! Yeah!" Observing the speedy progress, it can be assumed that the project is proceeding ahead of schedule. It even seems Giga Berlin may go up faster than Giga Shanghai, which would be an exceptional feat for Germany.
During the meeting, plans for the production of battery cells were discussed. On September 3, at the construction site, Musk said that the company would be manufacturing battery cells and batteries in Giga Berlin.
“I think we will be building some batteries and cells and other things here. That will be good for stationary storage of wind and solar."
However, he did not disclose any details. All technical information about this will be revealed at the upcoming Battery Day, Sept 22. At the end of July, Steinbach announced that Tesla will build a battery cell manufacturing plant for Giga Berlin, and the batteries will be built with "completely new technology."
“Tesla has started planning for battery cell production in Grünheide. The company told us about it,” said Steinbach. "This is great news again. Another step to make Brandenburg the leading energy transition country in Germany and Europe," he continued.
Steinbach is excited and proud that Grünheide and Brandenburg will be the home for the most technologically advanced Tesla cars and batteries. "Grünheide is going to be the place for the manufacture of this newest generation of batteries and the technologically most advanced Tesla cars, which actually makes us very proud!", he said.
The meeting between the officials and Musk was very productive and positive. "It was an inspiring and motivating hour, with some good laughs, some concentrated deep drilling between engineers and a focused discussion of the project" continued the Minister of Economy, Labor, and Energy of the state of Brandenburg.
Steinbach also thanked Musk for the inspiring and motivating meeting, and for Tesla selecting Grünheide as the location for Gigafactory 4:
@elonmusk Dear Elon, thank you for your time today! Thank you again for choosing #Grünheide as the location for #Giga4 and the trust you have placed in us. Our meeting has been inspiring and motivating. Always welcome to Brandenburg and come back soon! Photo copyright @Gf4Tesla pic.twitter.com/yhvYTmsth4
— Jörg Steinbach (@joergstb) September 2, 2020
© 2020, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.
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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
