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Tesla opens new German factory as Musk teases ‘master plan’


Tesla finally cut the ribbon on its Germany-based gigafactory Tuesday, presenting 30 customers with the first European-made Teslas in the world. With Giga Berlin officially a go, Tesla hopes to better flood the European market, which has so far been supplied by factories in the U.S. and China (where COVID-19 continues to disrupt its Shanghai factory operations).

The expansion is all part of Elon Musk‘s master plan, which has hit a number of roadblocks over scale and environmental concerns. The company said the Brandenburg-based gigafactory will have capacity to produce 500,000 vehicles a year, which is more than half of the 936,000 units Tesla delivered worldwide in 2021.

But experts worry the area doesn’t have enough water to sustain the scale up, and a German publication previously reported the factory will start by turning about 1,000 units a week. To reach 500,000 annually, that would eventually have to ramp up to about 9,615 per week.

Musk teased on Twitter that he’s “working on Master Plan Part 3,” later hinting that Tesla will be scaling to “extreme size,” and adding that the master plan will also include sections about his other projects, SpaceX and The Boring Company. Tesla shares rose more than 16% in the four days following that tweet.

Musk published his first master plan in 2006, when many thought Tesla would fail. Now, he’s the richest man in the world and some analysts expect he will eventually become the world’s first trillionaire.

SIMONE DEL ROSARIO: TESLA HAS CUT THE RIBBON ON ITS GERMAN-BASED GIGAFACTORY – PRESENTING 30 CUSTOMERS WITH THE FIRST EUROPEAN-MADE TESLAS IN THE WORLD.

IT’S ALL PART OF ELON MUSK’S MASTER PLAN…I’LL GET TO THAT IN A SECOND.

WITH GIGA BERLIN OFFICIALLY A GO – TESLA HOPES TO BETTER FLOOD THE EUROPEAN MARKET – WHICH HAS SO FAR BEEN SUPPLIED BY FACTORIES IN THE U-S AND IN CHINA – WHERE THEY CONTINUE TO SEE FACTORY DISRUPTIONS OVER COVID.

WHILE TESLA LEADS THE E-V MARKET – LIKE THE OTHERS, IT STILL STRUGGLES WITH SCALE.

THE COMPANY SAYS GIGA BERLIN HAS CAPACITY TO PRODUCE HALF A MILLION VEHICLES A YEAR – THAT NUMBER IS MORE THAN HALF WHAT TESLA DELIVERED WORLDWIDE LAST YEAR…

BUT PRODUCTION RAMP UP WILL BE MUCH SLOWER TO START. A GERMAN PUBLICATION REPORTED THE FACTORY COULD TURN A THOUSAND UNITS A WEEK IN THE BEGINNING…AND LACK OF LOCAL WATER RESERVES COULD HURT LONG-TERM GOALS.

THE PAST WEEK MUSK TEASED ON TWITTER THAT HE’S “WORKING ON MASTER PLAN PART THREE.”

HINTING LATER THAT TESLA WILL BE SCALING TO “EXTREME SIZE.”

THE STOCK’S BEEN SURGING EVER SINCE.

MUSK’S FIRST MASTER PLAN WAS PUBLISHED IN 2006 WHEN MOST THOUGHT TESLA WOULD FAIL. AND NOW HE’S THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD.

FROM NEW YORK FOR JUST BUSINESS I’M SIMONE DEL ROSARIO.