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Entrance to the Brandenburg Tesla plant: According to a report by the “Automobilwoche”, mass production could start in December
Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa
The factory of US car maker Tesla in Grünheide near Berlin may be about to start.
The company has already produced several electric cars on a test basis.
Tesla has received the necessary approvals, the company said.
The production of a limited number of test bodies is possible.
They are intended for test purposes in Grünheide or in external systems.
The parts produced in this way are not allowed to be sold.
The official test run in the car factory has not yet started.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk hopes the first cars will roll off the assembly line this year.
The »Automobilwoche« writes that five Model Ys have already been manufactured in the »Gigafactory«.
From the beginning of January, 1000 units per week should initially be produced, and production should be ramped up in the middle of the year.
Tesla did not comment on these numbers.
In the first phase, up to 500,000 cars per year with around 12,000 employees are planned.
A permit from the state of Brandenburg for the entire factory has so far been pending.
It is considered possible that the decision will be made this year.
However, the Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment does not give a date for the decision on the green light for the factory.
Breakdown in the approval process
"The approval process is ongoing," a spokesman told SPIEGEL.
"A point in time for the decision cannot be named." The "Automobilwoche" reported that the decision would come in a few days - the spokesman did not comment on that.
The comments are currently being examined by critics.
In addition, according to the Ministry of the Environment, documents from authorities and Tesla are pending.
If production starts this year, the first series-produced Model Y cars would come out of the factory almost six months later than originally planned.
The start was delayed due to a lack of environmental permits.
Most recently, the authorities had an online discussion repeated because the procedure may originally have been announced too quickly.
Conservationists and residents fear that the factory will have negative consequences for the environment.
For example, they think that water consumption is too high.
Tesla had denied the concerns.
Musk also wants to build a large battery factory in Grünheide.
Last week, the carmaker surprisingly waived a possible government subsidy in the billions for the planned battery production.
The reason is so far unclear.
2022 should be the year of the breakthrough in mass production for Tesla with the ramp-up in Grünheide and the start of the new plant in Austin / Texas.
According to "Automobilwoche" estimates, Tesla could achieve sales of 1.3 million units in 2022.
This would make the carmaker larger than brands such as Volvo Cars and Mitsubishi and come close to the size of Skoda, reported the industry newspaper.
nis / AFP / dpa
