In an interview yesterday as part of the European Battery Conference in Europe, Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave some new details on what the automaker’s lineup could look like once Giga Berlin is operational.
When Musk visited China earlier this year to deliver the first Model 3’s made at Giga Shanghai to lucky customers, he made the surprise announcement that he wanted to hire a team of designer and engineers to create new, original electric vehicles (EVs).
Those comments followed up from similar comments made a few months earlier after announcing Giga Berlin in November 2019.
“Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding, for sure. That’s part of the reason why we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany. We are also going to create an engineering and design center in Berlin, because Berlin has some of the best art in the world.”
Now Musk has revealed more details about the new, original design EVs that may come out of Giga Berlin’s design center. To appeal to the European market, the CEO said the car will have to be a compact, hatchback design.
“In Europe, it would make sense to do, I guess a compact car, perhaps a hatchback or something like that…or what do most people want in a given region? In the US, cars tend to be bigger for personal taste reasons, and in Europe it tends to be smaller.”
To prove his point, Musk described how during a recent visit to Berlin he had trouble finding a parking spot to fit the Model X he was driving.
With Giga Berlin only set to have the first cars roll of the production line in mid-2021, it will likely be at least a few years until we see these compact Tesla vehicles become a reality.
Musk also revealed other important information during this interview, including new details about the Semi truck’s range and design features, and the company’s plans for a massive battery plant at Giga Berlin.
The full interview is below, which starts at the point where Musk discusses the idea of compact vehicles.
