Tesla boss Elon Musk has announced the plant near Berlin as the largest battery factory in the world. However, the company is said to have deviated from the plans to produce complete batteries at the Grünheide site. According to Brandenburg’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, tax incentives in the USA are the reason.
Tesla has abandoned its plans to manufacture complete batteries in Germany, according to Brandenburg’s Economics Ministry. Instead, the electric car maker wants to carry out some production steps in the USA, where there are tax incentives, the ministry said on request.
The US carmaker had originally planned to produce the entire battery at its Grünheide site in Brandenburg, with a peak capacity of over 50 gigawatt hours per year. Because of the tax breaks in the USA for electric car manufacturers who purchase batteries made in the USA, Tesla has changed course. “Tesla has started the production of battery systems in Grünheide and is preparing to manufacture battery cell components. The company has prioritized further production steps in the USA because the tax conditions are more favorable there,” said the Brandenburg Ministry of Economic Affairs. Tesla has not yet commented on this.
Company boss Elon Musk had previously announced the Berlin Gigafactory as the largest battery factory in the world. At the opening in March 2022, he said the battery plant will reach series production by the end of 2023.
Tesla is struggling to ramp up production of the 4680 battery cells at its Fremont, California, and Austin, Texas factories, which experts attribute to new and untested techniques. In late January, the electric-car maker announced it would invest more than $3.6 billion in expanding its Gigafactory complex in Nevada to build two new factories — one to mass-produce the long-delayed Semi electric truck and the others for making new battery cell 4680.
