The US electric car manufacturer Tesla now employs more than 10,000 people in its factory in Grünheide near Berlin. The German Press Agency learned this from business circles on Monday. The company wrote on Twitter that 4,000 cars are currently being built per week. That’s around 200,000 a year. However, the goal of the first expansion phase has not yet been achieved: Tesla has set itself the goal of producing half a million cars a year in Grünheide with 12,000 employees.
Since March 2022, Tesla has been producing electric cars in its only European car factory to date. The company had already announced last year that ramping up production would take time. In the summer, Tesla had around 5,000 employees. Tesla boss Elon Musk confirmed at the time that 1,000 cars were being built each week. In October 2022, there were then more than 7,000 employees and around 2,000 cars per week. According to previous plans, it should be 5,000 vehicles per week by the first quarter of this year.
Tesla wants to expand the plant. At the same time, the battery factory is already in operation – but not yet with a complete production of batteries. Tesla had shifted the focus of such production to the United States for tax reasons. However, the company is sticking to the manufacture of complete batteries in Grünheide.
Car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer sees growing risks for investments in battery production in Germany. “We believe that the ramp-up of electromobility will be disrupted – also because subsidies in Germany have been cut,” said the director of the CAR – Center Automotive Research in Duisburg of the German Press Agency. “This will make combustion engines cheaper again for customers. This means that fewer batteries are needed in Europe.” In the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” Dudenhöffer also addressed the risks of high electricity prices in Germany.
Tesla’s decision should be taken very seriously in Berlin, Dudenhöffer told dpa. If the so-called US anti-inflation law stays the way it is, German automakers would try to install batteries in the US.
According to Tesla, it has started assembling battery systems in Grünheide and is ramping up production. In the near future, these systems will also be used in vehicles built in Grünheide. Car manufacturers such as Volkswagen and the Mercedes-Benz Group are also investing in cell plants.
At the turn of the year, the funding for plug-in hybrids, which use a combustion engine in addition to an electric motor, was phased out. The subsidy premiums for battery and fuel cell cars have fallen. Sales of e-cars collapsed in January due to the reduction in subsidy premiums. In 2024, the subsidy premiums will continue to decrease.
Tesla shares gained 5.46 percent in NASDAQ trading to $207.63.
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