Tesla expansion in Brandenburg, Shanghai and Greece

Shortly after the official confirmation that Tesla will also manufacture battery cells in its Giga Berlin factory currently under construction, it has become apparent which cells will be manufactured at the German location. At the same time, Tesla is expanding in Shanghai and entering the Greek market.

Firstly to Germany: According to Brandenburg’s Minister of Economics Jörg Steinbach, this is to be a “completely new technology”. Apparently, Tesla wants to manufacture its own battery cells in Brandenburg at the Giga Berlin factory currently under construction. Steinbach said, “The new batteries are smaller and, thanks to their higher energy density, allow for greater range,” which sounds remarkably like the batteries from the Roadrunner project, that will also be made in Fremont, California. The first official information about battery production at Giga Berlin will be forthcoming at the Battery Day scheduled for 22 September.

At Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada, USA, the only commercial battery production under one roof of Tesla, the electric car manufacturer works with Panasonic. In one part of the factory, Panasonic employees manufacture the cells, in another Tesla employees assemble these cells into ready-to-install batteries and also assemble electric motors.

In Giga Berlin, Tesla will probably make the cells without an external partner. As Minister Steinbach now stated, battery production is to be part of the second expansion stage. This means that it is not part of the currently available factory plans – Tesla will then have to apply for a new permit for the expansion. Steinbach did not specify when the second expansion stage is to be completed and how many jobs are to be created in cell production.

Meanwhile, Tesla continues to work on the expansion of Gigafactroy 3 near Shanghai. In China, preparations for the start of production of the Model Y next year are being driven forward in parallel with the expansion of the production halls: With around 1,000 job postings, the company is primarily looking for factory workers, but also designers.

How many designers are being sought is not clear from the company’s job posts. In January, Musk announced the creation of a design and development centre in China, followed a little later by the first sketch of a new model. The calls for tenders are becoming more concrete in terms of production employees: 600 jobs are to be created in the stamping plant, bodywork production, paint shop and final assembly. 150 employees are being sought for quality control, 200 for plant logistics and 20 security staff.

Tesla is also currently looking for new employees in Europe for market entry in Greece. A sales manager and a Tesla advisor are to prepare the market entry there. Exactly when this is planned is still not clear from the tenders. The Greek government recently announced extensive eMobility subsidies.

electrek.co, reuters.com (China), tesmanian.com (Greece)