Tesla Gigafactory Berlin should avoid ‘any major delays to the construction’, says official

Tesla Gigafactory Berlin should be able to stick to its schedule and avoid ‘any major delays to the construction’, according to German officials.

Ever since Tesla withdrew its US employees working on Gigafactory Berlin over coronavirus concerns and ran into problems with the soil at the construction site, there have been concerns about Tesla sticking to its timeline to start production in July 2021.

The German Economy Minister said that they are not expecting any delays (via Reuters):

“German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Monday that he did not expect any major delays to the construction of Tesla’s factory near Berlin due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

At the same time, the Brandenburg government announced that Tesla made “a third application for early measures to prepare for the construction.”

Minister of Transport Guido Beermann said (via LR Online):

“Tesla is sticking to both the project and the schedule for the construction of the factory in Grünheide.”

The new application is for “flat foundations of certain buildings and the laying of supply lines above the water table.”

At the site of the planned factory, the government reports that there is only a little activity currently done, but there’s still a lot of work being done behind the scene.

The site is located on a 300-hectare plot of land next to the GVZ Berlin-Ost Freienbrink industrial park.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla will build “batteries, powertrains, and vehicles, starting with Model Y” at Gigafactory Berlin in Germany.

Recently,  Musk linked the release of the Tesla Model Y in Europe to the start of production at Gigafactory Berlin.

Unlike previous vehicle launches where Tesla would export new cars from its Fremont factory in California, the launch in Europe will only happen once Tesla managed to start production at the new factory.

Electrek’s Take

I am glad to hear that the local officials believe Tesla is sticking to the schedule, but I still have my doubts.

Even before the pandemic and the soil problem, I already thought the timeline was really aggressive.

After what they accomplished in Shanghai, it still seemed possible at the time, but now with COVID-19 and the soil issue forcing a redesign of the foundation, it sounds unlikely that full vehicles will come out of the factory in the summer of 2021.

Though I’d love to be surprised.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section.