German Economic Minister Has No Info on Tesla’s Giga Berlin Plans

Plans for Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg seem to be up in the air, after one local economic minister spoke briefly and vaguely on the subject.

On Thursday, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said he didn’t have any information on changes to Tesla’s battery manufacturing plans at Giga Berlin, according to a report from Reuters.

The news comes following a Wednesday report from the Wall Street Journal saying that the automaker was halting battery production endeavors within the country, though the validity of the report is not yet clear.

The report said that Tesla’s pause in battery production was due to the automaker seeking tax breaks for its electric vehicles (EVs) and manufacturing EV batteries.

Another report noted that plans to expand Tesla’s Giga Berlin were taken off the local council’s upcoming agenda, putting a halt to plans for 100 hectares east of the factory in Grünheide that was set to become a freight station.

The agenda item was removed by Grünheide mayor Arne Christiani, though he would not say why the item was removed.

Tesla shared an inbound railway concept for Giga Berlin at the automaker’s town hall event held at the factory last Sunday. At the event, Tesla discussed its environmental progress in the area and had activities for children and families in addition to test drives of the Model Y.