Electric car manufacturer Tesla opened its first European factory Tuesday on the outskirts of Berlin in an effort to challenge German automakers on their home turf.
Model Y electric vehicles stand on a conveyor belt at the opening of the Tesla factory in Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022.
The company says its new “Gigafactory" will employ 12,000 people and produce 500,000 vehicles a year once it's fully up and running. Initial production will focus on Tesla's Model Y compact sport utility vehicle.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, Dietmar Woidke, Minister-President of the State of Brandenburg, center, and Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, left, attend the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the opening ceremony in Gruenheide, southeast of the German capital, with Tesla boss Elon Musk, who performed an impromptu dance for fans as the first cars rolled out of the factory for delivery.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, center, talks to Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, right, at the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the opening of the factory was “a nice symbol” that gasoline-powered cars can be replaced with electric vehicles at a time when Germany and other European nations are trying to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and wean themselves off Russian oil.
Tesla began building the vast facility less than three years ago, before it received official permits to do so. Had those permits not been issued, the company would have had to level the site.
Tesla cars are parked at the construction site of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin, Germany, March 18, 2022.
“That's a different company risk culture,” Habeck said, after being asked to compare Tesla's approach with the slow pace of German construction projects such as Berlin's nearby new airport, which opened with a nine-year delay.
A Model Y electric vehicle rolls off the assembly line at the opening of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022.
