On Tuesday, Musk officially opened the first manufacturing facility in Europe for the company, which is looking to take pressure off its other factories in the U.S. and China.
Musk was dancing as he presided over the delivery of the first German-made cars to 30 clients and their families at the carmaker's 5 billion euro ($5.5 billion) plant.
Musk said that the launch was another step in the direction of a sustainable future. The launch of the firm's Shanghai factory in January 2020 was the scene of the CEO showing off some of his dance moves.
The new Giga Berlin factory is located in the coal town of Grünheide, which is close to the capital.
Some people are against Giga Berlin. Protesters gathered outside the facility to raise their concerns. They are worried that the plant will use too much water and they are unhappy with the number of trees sacrificed to build it.
The Berlin factory is expected to make up to 500,000 vehicles annually. There are delays for Model Ys and certain Model 3s in different parts of the world because the U.S. EV maker has been struggling to keep up with demand.
There were Covid-19 cases in China last week that forced the temporarily shut down of the Shanghai plant. There was limited production of made-in-China Model 3 and Model Y vehicles there.
In the last few quarters, the company has been exporting cars from China to Europe.
Demand for electric vehicles remains high in Europe, and now that it's possible for the company to use some production on the continent, it's possible for them to rely on some production from China.
Several years have passed since the creation of Giga Berlin. The opening of the Gigafactory 3 plant in Shanghai in the middle of next year is important to the expansion of the company. The company has begun production of the Model Y at a plant in Austin, Texas, but is yet to hold a grand opening.
Musk praised German engineering when he announced plans to build a car plant in Germany.
Everyone knows that German engineering is great. That is one of the reasons why we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany. Berlin has some of the best art in the world and we are going to create an engineering and design center there.
The German authorities gave the green light to start production.
The license for the vehicle and battery plants was expected to be granted after months of delays. The company intended to start production of vehicles in the summer of 2021.
Water usage at the facility remains an issue as the plant is up and running.
The impact on the local water supply continues to be a concern for the future of the plant, according to a research note. They said that in order to truly ramp up volume, there needs to be evidence of appropriate water usage and air pollution control.
According to the note, the company may exhaust the water reserve in the region with the first stage of the plant build out, and will need additional extraction permits in order to expand its capacity any further in the future.
The initial 500,000 volume target will be enough to support it, but it may face additional hurdles as it plans to expand each of its Gigafactories to 1 million units of annual production.
CNBC's Lora Kolodny reports.
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