Germany tells Elon Musk he can have whatever he needs for the new Tesla gigafactory plant in Berlin
Nickie Louise
Posted On September 4, 2020
You can have whatever you want if you are a billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Back in December of last year, we told you about Tesla after the electric car company announced the plan to build 500,000 electric vehicles a year at a new German gigafactory plant.
Musk now has all the support he needs to build the plant. During a recent trip to Germany, Musk was reportedly told by Germany’s economy minister that he can have whatever he needs for his new electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Berlin. Tesla’s Berlin plant is due to start production Summer 2021
In a tweet yesterday, Musk said, “Great trip to Germany. Support from government & people is super appreciated!”
Great trip to Germany. Support from government & people is super appreciated!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 3, 2020
On Wednesday, Musk and Germany economy minister Peter Altmaier had an hour-long meeting in Berlin, according to a report from Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. “The main topics were Tesla’s billions of euros worth of investment in Germany,” the source said.
Musk first announced the facility on 12 November 2019 at the Das Goldene Lenkrad award show in Berlin. The gigafactory is expected to produce batteries, battery packs, and powertrains for use in Tesla vehicles. It will also serve for assembly of the Tesla Model Y, which was announced in March 2019. Construction of the facility is set to begin in early 2020, with a proposed start of production in late 2021. Musk also announced the establishment of a new design and development center in nearby Berlin.
Musk first met Altmaier six years ago. The two spoke about Musk’s projects in areas like space flight and autonomous driving. While the full conversation has not been made public, Altmaier told Musk: “We are very proud of your car plant in Brandenburg and we wish you good luck with that,” according to Bloomberg.
