Tesla has officially started deliveries of its first made-in-Germany Model Y vehicles, which marks an important moment in Tesla’s expansion.
CEO Elon Musk was present to hand over the first cars and he gave a brief speech.
It’s a big deal because these are the first Tesla vehicles produced in Europe and right in the backyard of the strong German auto industry no less.
But for Tesla, it’s a big deal not only for adding production capacity with a new factory and tapping into the talent pool in Europe, but it is also going to help Tesla’s logistics by having vehicles made in Europe to feed the European market and free up some production in the US and China for other markets.
Elon Musk made the trip to Gigafactory Berlin to personally hand over the first few cars to customers and he delivered a brief speech.
The CEO thanked everyone involved in making the factory happen and made sure to reassure people that Tesla will “do the right thing” with the factory:
“Tesla will make sure that this is a gemstone for the area, for Germany, and for the world.”
Musk reiterated his vision that electric vehicles, solar, and wind power, along with batteries for energy storage can solve climate change and that Gigafactory Berlin is a “big step” toward achieving that.
He wishes that those solutions make people more optimistic about the future.
Here’s the full speech and the first deliveries (thanks to David from the Tesla Welt podcast):
Tesla didn’t share any information about the current production capacity of the plant, which is expected to reach 500,000 vehicles per year once the first phase of the plant is at full capacity, but it could take years to get there.
In its 2022 guidance, the automaker is not accounting for a significant output from the new factories in Berlin and Texas in growth this year.
The company is also planning battery cell production out of Gigafactory Berlin – especially its new 4680 cells – but for now the Model Ys produced at the plant is equipped with 2170 cells.
Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.
Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
