Tesla is rumoured to be delaying plans for battery production at Giga Berlin. Instead the company is reportedly looking into building production facilities in the United States to take advantage of tax credits through the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed into law last month.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Tesla could receive a tax credit of up to $35 per kWh for each battery cell produced in the US. As a result the company is reportedly already planning to transport equipment that was to be sent to Germany to the US instead.
Along with the tax credits, the sharply increasing energy prices in Europe paired with Russia’s attack on Ukraine were also reportedly factors in Tesla’s decision.
As part of the IRA electric vehicles that meet certain domestic manufacturing requirements can receive a tax credit up to $7,500.
Tesla has not commented on the report, and we have not been able to verify the authenticity of the claims with our sources.
Even though the report claims Tesla will delay battery production at Giga Berlin, they are unlikely to forego it altogether. They have already started building the battery plant at Giga Berlin, with the exterior of the structure now complete and work on the interior ongoing. No battery production equipment has arrived on site yet.
According to Tesla the Giga Berlin battery plant would initially have the capacity to produce up to 100GWh per year, before increasing to as much as 200 to 250 GWh/year.
Tesla qualified to receive a portion of the European Union’s state aid to fund the projects. Along with other manufacturers, the total amount being provided was more than 2.9 billion euros ($3.5 billion), but Tesla ultimately decided to forego the state aid and fund the project themselves.
You can see the latest progress on the battery plant in the drone flyover below.
