Tesla recently held an informational day at its Giga Berlin plant in Gruenheide on Sunday, detailing an update on the factory’s progress for local residents.
The automaker said the ramp-up of Model Y production was going “very well”, as reported by Automobilwoche. Tesla previously noted it had hit 1,000 cars produced per week at Giga Berlin in the summer. Giga Berlin’s annual capacity is slated at 1 million vehicles.
Tesla has its sights on 5,000 cars produced per week at Giga Berlin by Q1 2023, as reported by the German Press Agency (DPA). By 2023, Tesla aims to have 2 million cars made per year, thanks to its Gigafactories in Berlin, Shanghai and Texas; the goal is one-tenth of its future plans to make 20 million cars annually.
On the environmental front, Tesla told visitors on Sunday it wants to lower water consumption at Giga Berlin, as it hopes to ease the fears of local residents in the area. Tesla said over 500 people attended the info session, while 14 stands provided information about the site by employees. The company also offered test drives of Tesla vehicles, while smaller Tesla electric ride-on toys were available for kids.
Tesla says roughly 2.2 cubic meters (78 cubic feet) of fresh water is used to make a single Model Y; the electric vehicle maker pointed out this is nearly half of what the car industry average is, at 4 cubic meters (171 cubic feet) per car.
Possible solutions to lower water consumption at Giga Berlin is to use hybrid cooling towers or dry cleaning parts at the factory, along other ideas.
Giga Berlin is also slated to have a new battery plant built on the site, but the opening date has not been specified. Tesla also detailed its plans to use a train shuttle to improve public transportation to the factory, expected to open in spring 2023.
