According to the German publication TeslaMag.de, Tesla’s Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory is currently producing 86 Model Y Performance cars per day, claim unnamed sources.
That works out to just over 600 cars per week — almost double the 350 units per week we reported the plant was piping out in April, but significantly less than Tesla’s goal of producing 1,000 units per week.
Production at Gigafactory Berlin is being held back by finished Model Y units requiring some rework and the facility’s stock of batteries and drivetrains from China running low, among other things.
Giga Berlin’s supply of batteries and drivetrains from China became a question mark when COVID-19 lockdowns in the country crippled logistics and forced Gigafactory Shanghai to shut down for 24 days. However, Giga Shanghai is back online and the supply channels are opening back up.
Sending batteries and drivetrains to Germany by sea would have taken longer, so Tesla shipped a batch from China by air freight. The delivery arrived in Germany earlier this week, so Giga Berlin’s stock should be replenished.
Sources familiar with the situation have also confirmed that Tesla currently has a whopping two million orders for the Model Y Performance with a CCS charging connector, including orders for right-hand drive markets such as the United Kingdom.
All of these Model Y Performance orders will be fulfilled by Giga Berlin, so Model Y Long Range production at the plant has been delayed. Instead, Tesla will continue to import Model Y LR units for Germany and other European markets from China. The right-hand drive variant of the Model Y Performance has already entered test production.
According to Brandenburg’s Minister of Economy, Giga Berlin currently employs 4,000 workers and Tesla is constantly looking to add more. The automaker had hired another 500 people as of the end of last week and is planning to start a second shift at Giga Berlin in the next quarter.
Tesla hopes to ramp production at the facility up to 1,000 units per week eventually, but an earlier report indicated that Giga Berlin won’t see another significant increase in output beyond that for the rest of the year.
