With the announcement to build a large factory for electric cars near Berlin, boss Elon Musk electrified Germany, well, yes. Critics hold the plans for an air number, a pure PR stunt, which may once again distract from any problems in the company and should inspire the stock market price. Fans cheer Musks next hussar stroke and see the German competition already lying on the ground. Politicians in the affected regions rub their hands together. And all of Germany is puzzled: What kind of factory is that Musk wants to build - and why does he call her Giga Factory?
The most important questions and answers at a glance:
- What is a Gigafactory?
The name Gigafactory is Elon Musk interpreted by critics as cocky PR-word creation, but follows a certain logic. Who wants to push the cost of electric cars, can do the fastest in battery production. So the manufacturer does not have to produce the power storage needed for the vehicles in terms of kilo- or megawatt-hours, but gigawatt-hours. Hence the name: Gigafactory.
"Batteries and their cells have billions of dollars in development costs, which is why they have to transfer manufacturers to the highest possible quantities," explains Stefan Reindl, Director of the Institute for Automotive Industry in Geislingen. In the US state of Nevada, Tesla started building its first gigafactory in 2014. Completely completed, she is said to be the largest building in the world, according to Tesla. It does not seem to be possible without great pride.
- What is produced in the US Gigafactory?
In the US, the electric cars from Tesla are still running off the production line in Fremont. In the Gigafactory 1 in Nevada, the company builds the electric motors for the Model 3 for the mass market and especially batteries. Panasonic produces their cells in the Gigafactory under the same roof. Each year, the two partners produce batteries with more than 20 gigawatt hours of power, Tesla announced to its shareholders at the Annual General Meeting in June.
When the Gigafactory 1 is fully expanded, 35 Gigawatt hours are to be produced there each year. The Californians want to equip 500,000 vehicles per year. Tesla also markets the batteries to homeowners for storing solar power and as building blocks for energy utility battery parks.
- What role does the factory in Brandenburg play for Tesla?
According to Musk not only batteries are to be produced in the planned Gigafactory near Berlin. Tesla also wants to produce drivetrains at the location in Grünheide, which also includes engines in the vocabulary of the automobile industry. Finally, in Brandenburg still the new SUV model Y is to be mounted, which is based on the Model 3. Tesla needs the extra sales on the European market to finally get the quantities it needs to make a factory worthwhile
In April, the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei announced that Tesla and Panasonic had stopped the expansion of Gigafactory 1 in Nevada for the time being. Stefan Reindl speaks of a chicken-and-egg problem: "Due to the currently still relatively low production figures, the margins for electric vehicles are so far at a low level or even in the loss range." In order to increase margins, more cars would have to be sold - which requires sufficiently large markets.
- Where else can you find gigafactories?
The plant in Grünheide will be the fourth Gigafactory. Two years after the construction of the first major factory in Nevada, Tesla acquired the solar module manufacturer SolarCity in 2016. Meanwhile, Tesla has named its production site in Buffalo on the east coast of the United States Gigafactory 2. The company manufactures solar cells and photovoltaic modules there, as well as components for its charging stations and energy storage systems. In Shanghai is Tesla's first major factory outside the US. For the official start of production in Gigafactory 3 Musk received on Tuesday the approval of the Chinese Ministry of Industry, one day after he announced the location for Factory 4 near Berlin.
- Who else plans gigafactories?
If all manufacturers in the world want to replace their cars with battery-powered vehicles, even a single large-scale factory is too tiny. By 2030, the Öko-Institut expects more than 30 gigafactories worldwide. By 2050, it could theoretically be 220. In the Thuringian town of Arnstadt, the Chinese battery manufacturer CATL wants to manufacture batteries from the beginning of 2022, among others for BMW. The capacity should be initially at 14, in the long run at up to 24 gigawatt hours. For the turn of the year 2023/24 VW plans the start of production in its Gigafactory in Salzgitter. The cell forge is designed for 16 gigawatt hours and a joint venture with the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt.
- How climate-friendly are gigafactories?
The production of battery cells consumes large amounts of energy. Whether e-cars are really more climate-friendly than petrol engines, therefore, decides primarily in the production. Electricity from coal-fired power plants can not be found there. On the roof of its assembly plant in Tilburg, the Netherlands, Tesla has already installed solar modules on an area of about three football fields - with a capacity of 3400 kilowatts. According to Tesla's "Impact Report" from April, the installation of solar modules on the roof of Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is also under way. Of course, this does not cover the power requirement for a long time, Tesla is currently total direct CO2 emissions at about 70,000 tonnes annually.
In the long term, the Californians have set themselves the goal of covering their entire energy needs from renewable sources. For the factory in Grünheide there are already speculations as to whether Tesla could conclude direct supply contracts for green electricity with operators of new solar or wind farms, so-called PPAs. In Brandenburg, however, as in many parts of Germany, the debate about the acceptance of wind farms has recently intensified.