Tesla officially opens Berlin Gigafactory

Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images

The company's CEO is opening the fourth Gigafactory today, and it is the first in Europe. The site where the factory will be built is located just outside the German capital of Berlin and is officially called Giga Berlin-Brandenburg.

30 Model Y compact SUVs will be handed over to customers as part of the opening ceremony. The performance configuration of the vehicle, which has a range of 320 miles, sells for 63,990 dollars.

Excited to hand over the first production cars made by Giga Berlin-Brandenburg tomorrow!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2022

CNBC reported at the time that the factory could produce up to 500,000 vehicles per year after it was given the go-ahead to begin commercial production. The opening of the factory was delayed due to a combination of the Pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and environmental concerns.

Since February 2020 when the factory was temporarily halted due to environmental concerns, there have been many concerns surrounding it. The factory's impact on the environment has been defended by the CEO. The forest that needed to be cleared prior to the construction of the Gigafactory was not natural, according to Musk. In a letter sent to a local court,Tesla argued that Germany's regulatory framework directly contradicts the urgency to plan and realize such projects that are necessary to battle climate change.

Although the factory is now up and running, Musk has previously warned that ramping up production is the real challenge. The publication reported that the factory could produce up to 30,000 vehicles in the first half of the year, and that it could ramp up production to 1,000 units a week in January. Eventually, the company says it wants to produce 500,000 cars and 50GWh of battery capacity annually at the location. The company has hired over 3000 workers who will staff the factory.

The creation of a European manufacturing hub will be an important logistical victory for the company, which currently imports European cars from its factories elsewhere in the world. There are locations in Nevada, New York, and China. The company will have its headquarters in Texas, where a fifth factory is currently under construction.