Tesla receives permission to begin clearing the Gigafactory Berlin site ahead of the start of construction

The Brandenburg State Office for the Environment has given Tesla preliminary approval to begin the clearing the future site of Gigafactory Berlin.

The news was announced by Jörg Steinbach, Minister for the Economy, who tweeted “It starts! Preparation for construction has begun. A historical photo taken a few minutes ago.”

Tesla first started clearing a few small trees from the site in early January, but with this latest approval would be allowed to begin more large scale clearing efforts.

In additional to the clearing of trees, Tesla can now also begin the construction of paved access roads which would allow clearing and construction equipment to gain access to the future site of the Gigafactory. Tesla will also be required at a later stage to build public access roads to allow for easy access to the Gigafactory.

Once complete, the factory will manufacture the Model Y, with a targeted production rate of 500,000-750,000 vehicles per year.