The German capital chosen by Elon Musk as the European production base.’In the lair of the wolf’, you might say. Tesla president Elon Musk has announced that Berlin is the city chosen by the Californian electric car House as the location where the first European Brand Factory will be born in Europe. Tesla will therefore build its logistics base on the Old Continent in Germany, right where its main premium rivals BMW, Mercedes and Audi are produced. ‘I do not have time to explain all the details, but it will be born near the new airport’, announced the South African tycoon on the occasion of the delivery of the Golden Steering Wheel, an event celebrated in the German capital.
Until now, the only reference point for Tesla in Europe was the small plant in Tilburg, Holland, where the Model S and Model X are assembled, arriving, in pieces, from the United States. Musk also announced that the new German factory will be futuristic and inspired by the setting of Blade Runner, Ridley Scott’s film classic.
The project was dubbed Gigafactory 4 and in this industrial plant – which, according to the head of the German Bild will employ 10,000 staff – will be produced, the Tesla Model 3, the entry level of the range and the Model Y, the future crossover. In addition, batteries and motors will also be produced here. Also inside the industrial center will also be born a center of engineering and design.
In the New Megafactory will be produced not only cars from the American house, such as the future Model Y, but also batteries. The plant will work with Tilburg, in the Netherlands, where cars arriving from the United States are currently being assembled.
Today, in fact, Tesla come only pre-assembled in Europe and complete the internal equipment and the latest finishes in Holland before being delivered to the last customer. With the production of batteries, the new Gigafactory will allow considerable weight savings in the transport of cars from the new to the Old Continent, to the benefit of prices and ecology.
Already in 2016 Tesla had purchased Grohmann Engineering, a German automotive design brand, and Musk himself confessed that he chose Berlin as the European headquarters for his world-class role in the field of design and advanced engineering. And, moreover, with a European Tesla plant will considerably accelerate its penetration into European markets, bypassing even not insignificant import problems. By the way, in the first 9 months of 2019 the Model 3 has already become the best-selling electric in Europe, with 64,043 units on our roads. The equivalent, in short, of a market share of 17% in the segment of cars with zero emissions.
Tesla’s European factory will join the three other industrial plants the California-based firm owns in the US and the only plant in China. At Freemont, Tesla boasts a production of 90,000 units of the Model S and 350,000 units of the Model 3. In Nevada, batteries are produced, while in New York, the production of cells for solar panels is dedicated. The Chinese plant, finally, built in just 10 months, is already ready to start with production.
