© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A basic view reveals the Tesla emblem on the Gigafactory in Gruenheide close to Berlin, Germany, August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
By Victoria Waldersee, Nette Noestlinger and Leon Malherbe
GRUENHEIDE, Germany (Reuters) -Tesla on Tuesday sought to assuage Brandenburg state residents’ considerations by holding a question-and-answer session on the EV maker’s deliberate enlargement that might make its native plant the most important automobile manufacturing unit within the nation.
Tesla (NASDAQ:), which at present produces round 5,000 automobiles per week, hopes to double the plant’s manufacturing capability to 1 million autos a 12 months and add 50 gigawatt hours of battery manufacturing capability, although it has not supplied a timeline.
Ramping up output at its first European manufacturing hub is essential to Tesla’s purpose of vanquishing market chief Volkswagen (ETR:), whose largest plant in Wolfsburg has capability for 800,000 autos however final 12 months produced solely round 400,000.
Whereas Volkswagen nonetheless holds the very best EV market share within the area, Tesla is making its mark. Its Mannequin Y was the best-selling automobile in Europe within the first quarter of the 12 months.
Tesla employees answered queries from locals on points from water use and biodiversity safety to the environmental impression evaluation for the enlargement, in an try to handle considerations that might maintain up its utility to native authorities.
The primary part of the plant’s building was delayed because of the excessive variety of objections from native residents, principally associated to environmental considerations.
Tesla has lengthy argued that the plant’s impression is comparatively low and referred to the advantages of EVs in combating local weather change.
The carmaker is because of publish the complete utility for the enlargement on Wednesday, and residents have till mid-September to file objections.
Tesla on Tuesday mentioned the deliberate enlargement covers a brand new 700-by-700-metre manufacturing house, round double the scale of its present manufacturing corridor, and will entail growing its workers to 22,500, from round 10,000 now.
The attendees’ primary concern at Tuesday’s occasion was how the carmaker will handle to develop the plant with out utilizing further water, which Tesla has mentioned it would obtain by recycling the 1.4 million cubic metres of water it’s licensed to make use of.
“I maintain my animals right here for searching and never even they get sufficient water. We simply haven’t got sufficient,” Emily, a 23-year-old attendee, instructed Reuters through the assembly.
Nonetheless, others had been extra optimistic.
“Water is not a Tesla drawback – it is a basic drawback,” mentioned 68-year-old native resident Matthias Handschick. “If the recycling works, that is good – we’d like these options.”