Tesla Giga Berlin
After recently reaching a record production rate of 4000 vehicles per week, Tesla has submitted an environmental application to expand its Berlin factory to increase production to almost 5 times that amount.
The application for an annual production rate of 1 million vehicles would see the Germany factory producing almost 1.5% of the world’s entire automotive production out of the one factory.
German media company RBB reported that Tesla submitted the application to Germany’s environmental agency on Thursday.
The expansion however will not increase the factory’s physical size, the Berlin Gigafactory is said to be big enough to produce up to 2 million vehicles when it reaches full capacity. The production equipment required to reach 1 million vehicles will be built inside the existing building.
RBB reports that Tesla has “optimised planning and production processes in such a way that the amounts of fresh water previously used as a basis and contractually agreed on, are also sufficient for this expansion,”
“This should be achieved through the complete treatment and reuse of waste water generated during production” RBB reports.
In February Giga Berlin reached 4000 cars per week. Source: Tesla
Giga Berlin ramping fast
After hitting 3000 cars per week in December then 4000 just two months later in February, the Berlin factory is ramping quickly and is expected to hit 5000 per week relatively soon.
The factory currently has approval to produce 500,000 vehicles per year which is a weekly rate of just under 10,000.
Increasing weekly production by about a thousand units every couple of months would mean Tesla will approach the 500,000 unit per year limit in as little as 12 months from now making the submission of the extension application critical to Tesla ability to continue growing.
Building applications and environmental approvals had significantly delayed the Berlin Gigafactory from achieving it’s original opening date and there has been some speculation that Germany’s powerful incumbent automotive industry may have sort to place obstacles in the newcomers way. Tesla appears to have learnt from this and is beginning the application process early.
Giga Berlin one of the most advance automotive factories in the world
Tesla Berlin factory is considered one of the most advanced car factories in the world thanks to its revolutionary layout as well as new processes such as single-body castings which are made using the largest casting machines in the world.
You can get an idea of how advanced the factory is with the fly-through clip that Tesla posted when Giga Berlin was opened last year.
Many of Tesla’s new manufacturing techniques have been pioneered at Giga Berlin. The Model Y which is produced at the factory was recently described by Toyota executives as “a work of art” because of its design and the way it’s made.
Tesla recently showcased a number of its manufacturing technology breakthroughs at its Investor Day event in which it detailed how it will reduce its cost of production to below $US20,000 per vehicle.
Keyword: Tesla to expand Berlin Gigafactory to 1 million vehicles per year