Credit: Tesla

• The expansion of Tesla Giga Berlin is already being discussed by the Brandenburg government.
• Public discussion ended in just 2 days as there was a very low level of participation.
• Tesla wants to start construction in the first half of 2024.

After just two days, public comment on Tesla's expansion plans in Brandenburg, Germany, ended on Tuesday. The main reason for this was the low level of public participation. Although more than 1,000 objections were filed, only about 20 people showed up on Monday and just eight on Tuesday. The environmental organizations Nabu and the Green League, as well as the Brandenburg Nature and Landscape Association, did not join the discussions.

This meant that the approval process had moved to the next level. At the moment, the state government is reviewing Tesla's application, taking into account all objections received from the public. “All authorities are taking the necessary time to study the objections raised and prepare statements,” said a spokesperson for the Brandenburg State Environment Agency. “The decision will be formulated based on this at the end.” There is currently no schedule for this.

The American manufacturer must partially improve the application for the expansion of its factory at the request of the state of Brandenburg. Tesla has been asked to improve or supplement its application documents on certain points, state Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson Thomas Frey said Wednesday. For example, this involves proving that nitrogen pollution in the EU natural landscape is harmless, as Tesla claims.

Tesla hopes to receive the first partial approval for the expansion in the first half of 2024. First, it is planned to modernize the existing factory workshop. The company also wants to build a water recycling plant. Plans for the coming years include a second production workshop and a battery recycling plant.

Tesla wants to double production from a planned 500,000 vehicles per year to one million per year. According to Tesla, it currently produces about 250,000 vehicles per year. Battery production capacity is expected to increase from 50 to 100 gigawatt-hours per year. The number of employees will increase from 11,000 to 22,500.

© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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