Brandenburg Minister-President Dietmar Woidke said during a press conference on Monday that Tesla’s Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory will “probably” receive final approval for operations at the beginning of the new year, reports Berlin.de (via @SawyerMerritt).
“The approval will come at some point,” said Woidke in a final press conference before the local government goes on break for the holidays.
“I don’t know exactly on which day of the week now – but it is foreseeable: it will probably be at the beginning of the year.”
"I don't know exactly on which day of the week now – but it is foreseeable: it will probably be at the beginning of the year."
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 20, 2021
The road so far hasn’t been the smoothest for Gigafactory Berlin, with several delays in both construction and regulatory approval from German authorities.
Tesla has been waiting on final permit approval for the facility to start operations since mid-2021. Approval was expected sometime in Q4, with both the company and local media forecasting that Giga Berlin would go online in December.
While Woidke’s statement has punted a regulatory decision on Giga Berlin into 2022, it also indicates that approval is very close.
While Tesla waits on permits for Gigafactory Berlin, the electric vehicle (EV) pioneer has also filed for final approval of its Texas Gigafactory. Giga Texas is gearing up to begin Cybertruck production next year, and will also be manufacturing the battery cells that power Tesla’s all-electric offerings.
