The Berlin Gigafactory was officially opened today by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The opening of the first Tesla factory in Europe was marked by the handing over of the first production of the factory to consumers.
The opening ceremony was also attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. The Berlin Gigafactory is located in the city of Grünheide, east of Berlin.
Habeck called the day a special day for the region and a special day for the mobility revolution in Germany. Meanwhile Scholz said it was a testament to the prestige of East Germany’s industry.
Excited to hand over the first production cars made by Giga Berlin-Brandenburg tomorrow!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2022
Tesla has faced many hurdles since announcing plans to build the Berlin Gigafactory. Tesla finally started factory construction work in May 2020
At the opening ceremony, the factory’s first Model Y will be handed over to consumers. So far, for the European market, the Model Y is imported from the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai, China.
Tesla faced delays in launching the car last summer. This is related to environmental problems, especially related to waste water in battery factories.
See also: Elon Musk signaled plans to scale Tesla to the “extreme” size
In late 2021, the health and environmental authorities in the state of Brandenburg allowed Tesla to expand testing of cars, but not to sell them.
The Berlin Gigafactory is expected to produce 30,000 vehicles in the first six months. Before then increasing it almost 500,000 cars per year.
The Berlin Gigafactory opens a new chapter in the competition for dominance in the European electric car market.
The European car market has traditionally been dominated by German manufacturers such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes.