Tesla CEO Elon Musk has decided to give the company’s team in Germany another six months to get the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin up and running — reports German weekly Automobilwoche (via Yahoo! Finance).
The site, Tesla’s first Gigafactory in Europe, was originally slated to start production on July 1, 2021.
Musk’s decision to push start of production at the facility back to late 2021 comes less than two weeks after it was revealed that the German government’s Federal Immission Control Act will cost Tesla a three-month delay. Plans to build a battery cell production unit at the site have also impacted the timeline.
Even though Tesla was pre-approved for the expansion of Giga Berlin’s footprint, regulatory approval in other aspects has been painstakingly slow, so much so that Tesla knocked the German government’s slow approval process in a letter early last month.
“The German approval framework … contradicts the urgency to plan and realize such projects that is necessary to battle climate change”, said the electric vehicle manufacturer.
At this point, it’s safe to assume that rumors of Giga Berlin starting prototype production in May won’t be bearing any fruit.
A spokeswoman for Tesla declined to comment on the matter, but did point to Tesla’s statement last month in which the electric vehicle giant said production at its Berlin Gigafactory won’t start until late 2021.
