Tesla shutdown Giga Berlin on July 11 to complete upgrades to the factory’s production lines, meant to reduce the amount of time a vehicle is required to be stopped at each station along the line from 90 seconds to 45 seconds.
The upgrades were scheduled to be completed by July 22, with the factory reopening for business on July 25. Everything went according to schedule and the automaker has already started trial production to test the new processes, a source familiar with the project told Drive Tesla.
Not only has production restarted, the factory is also kicking off the new processes by building several test vehicles with features that have never before been built at Giga Berlin. This includes a Model Y with a single-piece front casting, a Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive (formerly Standard Range), as well as a Model Y with a white interior.
According to our source, the single-piece front casting was produced using one of the Giga Press machines at Giga Berlin, marking the first time this has happened. Until now only single-piece rear castings have been included on Berlin-made Model Ys.
This is an important first step to beginning production of Model Ys with structural battery packs and 4680 cells. As we have previously reported, Giga Berlin built a Model Y with a structural pack last month, but the necessary parts for that vehicle were imported from Giga Texas.
Crews at the factory also put together a single-motor Model Y for the first time, as well as a Model Y with a white interior. Until now Giga Berlin has only produced Model Y Performance and Model Y Long Range cars with black interiors.
Unfortunately there is no timeline for when either the single-piece front casting, Model Y RWD, or the white interiors will enter full production.
Despite several reports that Giga Berlin would restart production after the shutdown with a third shift, we can confirm this will not be the case. As we reported last month, a third shift is not expected to begin until the fall. When it does the factory will be able to run continuously for 24 hours per day.
