The North American electric car company Tesla wants to continue expanding its technology, and no longer only seeks to open more plants for the manufacture of vehicles, but also wants to be the leader in the massive battery production process.
A few months ago, Tesla asked the authorities in Berlin, Germany, for permission to build its car factory, but now they want to add a center for the development of batteries, plans that could be delayed because it was not included in the initial request. .
According to information published by the DPA news agency, the Ministry of Agriculture of the German state of Brandenburg confirmed that Tesla’s amended application for the Gigafactory would include the construction and operation of a battery cell factory.
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The company seems to be prepared for its plans to be postponed since although they expected to start operating in July this year, in their quarterly report they publish that manufacturing will have its starting point at the end of 2021.
The scope of the project
The truth is that if Tesla’s plans are materialized and the necessary procedures are passed, the “Tesla Model Y” will be produced. Tech giant Elon Musk will be the first to use the new 4680 battery cells that will supply most of Europe and could also export vehicles to other parts of the world.
Tesla is in rapid growth and they have indicated that they would be able to produce an ambitious 500,000 electric cars when operations begin at the Berlin plant.
Opposition and pressure
Local Berlin media have revealed that Tesla’s plans could be slowed down by authorities due to pressure from environmental groups and residents of the area where the complex would be built.
According to the DW channel, these environmental organizations fear the negative consequences for the water and animals in the area. However, outside the gate, the Brandenburg state government positively assessed the new plans by stating: “We expressly welcome this path,” said Economy Minister Jörg Steinbach.
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Given this, the environmental association “Green League Brandenburg” asked the State to approach “with a more critical view the project and its consequences for the environment.” The organizations had requested a new interpretation of the documents presented in the Tesla project.
The importance of completing the project
The organization’s claim to start with the factory comes at a key moment, since several experts have warned that in about 10 or 15 years the batteries will not supply the large number of electric cars that will be on the market.
An example of this is reflected in the most recent study by the Swiss technology company ABB, which explains that by 2036 there will be some 80 battery factories in the world that will have to modify their production processes in order to meet the requests. They estimate that electric vehicles will multiply by six the demand they had during 2020.
Written by I Jhonattan González
