Last year Tesla Technoking Elon Musk revealed plans to build a massive battery manufacturing facility at Giga Berlin. The plant would have an initial production rate of 100 gigawatt hours per year, before increasing to as much as 200 to 250 GWh/year.
Initial reports indicated Tesla was not planning to begin production at the battery plant until 2023. According to new information obtained by Handelsblatt, the automaker is accelerating those plans.
Industry experts told the German publication Tesla plans to apply for approval for the facility in just a few weeks, or by July at the latest. That would mean production of their new 4680 cells in Germany could begin next year.
Last year Tesla qualified to receive a portion of the European Union’s state aid for battery projects. Along with other manufacturers, the total amount being provided totals 2.9 billion euros ($3.5 billion).
