Tesla plans to build its $25,000 electric car at Gigafactory Berlin

Tesla has reportedly confirmed that it plans to build its upcoming $25,000 electric car at Gigafactory Berlin.

It’s a rare new model to be confirmed for the factory that currently only produces the Model Y.

At Tesla’s 2023 Investor Day in March, the automaker unveiled a new car manufacturing system, which CEO Elon Musk claimed would be faster, more efficient, and enable the production of cheaper electric vehicles.

Tesla is calling it the “Unboxed Process”:

The general idea is that Tesla wants to be able to work on separate sections of the vehicle individually and only bring the car together at a new “more final” assembly.

It differs from the more traditional car manufacturing model to move the entire vehicle body down a line all the way to the final assembly.

Tesla has announced plans to use this next-generation platform to launch two new vehicles: a cheaper, smaller electric car, often referred to as “the $25,000 Tesla” and a robotaxi designed specifically for a self-driving taxi service.

The automaker first announced plans to build the new next-gen vehicles at the upcoming Gigafactory Mexico.

However, those plans have been delayed, and consequently, Tesla said it will first build the new electric vehicles at Gigafactory Texas.

The automaker is already installing some of the production equipment for the next-gen vehicles at the factory.

Now, Tesla is also expanding the footprint of the next generation vehicles to Gigafactory Berlin.

Elon Musk recently visited Gigafactory Berlin and held a meeting with the factory workers. At the meeting, he reportedly announced that the plant will build the new cheaper Tesla vehicle (via Reuters):

At the same meeting, he informed staff of plans to build the 25,000-euro vehicle there, the source said.

The announcement comes amid a unionization push at the factory. IG Metal, a powerful union in the auto industry in Germany, has been making moves to try to unionize Giga Berlin’s workers.

Tesla has increased wages at the plant – though the company claims it has nothing to do with the unionization effort.

The announcement of the new vehicle being built at the plant could also help create some job security.

Tesla is currently only producing the Model Y at the factory and had yet to announce a new vehicle program to be built at the plant.