Tesla Giga Berlin Grand Opening Reportedly Set For March 22–23

A report from Germany claims the plant in Grünheide will get its final approval later this week.

By: Dan Mihalascu

Feb 28, 2022 at 5:20am ET

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Tesla's Giga Berlin factory in Germany may get its final approval at the end of this week, with an official opening expected to take place on March 22 or 23.

The information comes from German newspaper Tagesspiegel, which notes that Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke's so-called "Task Force Tesla" met last Tuesday to discuss the factory's final approval.

The meeting reportedly only lasted 20 minutes, but the conclusions were clear: all obstacles facing the opening of Tesla's electric vehicle factory were cleared.

As a result, preparations are now underway for Gigafactory Berlin's grand opening. According to the same source, the official opening is scheduled for March 22, although this date could be pushed back a day to March 23. The latter is the date that Brandenburg state police have reportedly been preparing so far to secure a larger event dedicated to the start of operations in Grünheide.

Gallery: Tesla Giga Berlin (Tesla Gigafactory 4)

Many local and federal government officials are expected to attend the event, which is Germany's largest industrial and energy transition project. The police are said to be preparing for an event with around 500 guests, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other top executives.

As with the grand opening of Giga Shanghai, the official launch of Giga Berlin will reportedly include the handover of the first production Model Y to customers. The first 30 made-in-Germany Model Y crossovers are expected to be delivered to customers.

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Tesla built the first phase of Giga Berlin at its own risk using over 20 temporary approvals. The plant has built many pre-production vehicles but it's not allowed to sell them to customers. Drone flyovers of the factory have shown hundreds of vehicles parked on the premises, with some Tesla enthusiasts estimating that over 1,000 pre-production Model Ys have been manufactured out of the quota of 2,000 units the company was allowed to produce.

It's also worth noting that the grand opening event will take place shortly after the end of strict Covid-19 restrictions in Germany, which should help make the event more memorable.