Tesla opens its German Gigafactory

Tesla opens its German Gigafactory today.

The Tesla Gigafactory in Brandenburg, just outside Berlin, is the company’s first manufacturing location in Europe, promising to construct some 500,000 cars a year. Tesla began construction prior to receiving written manufacturing approval from local and federal government entities. On March 4 government officials finally approved Tesla’s operations, greenlighting the company to start producing its famed electric vehicles.

The Gigafactory’s opening strengthens Germany’s global perception as a source of high-quality engineering and manufacturing while allowing Tesla to grow globally. The plant’s goal of producing such a high volume of cars per year will allow Tesla to better control Europe’s already competitive electric vehicle market.

Tesla’s embedding itself into Europe comes at an opportune time. With gas and oil prices at record high prices, the company will have a comparative advantage of persuading customers away from gasoline and diesel vehicles. However, expect these cars to carry a high price tag as their batteries depend on the supply of elements that have been adversely affected by the war in Ukraine, such as nickel.