EVwire brief: Tesla is investing an additional $250 million to expand 4680 battery cell production at Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, bringing its total planned capacity at the site from 8 GWh to 18 GWh annually.
The expansion more than doubles the facility's previous battery production target. Tesla said the ramp-up will require more than 1,500 additional employees as production scales.
Giga Berlin plant manager Andre Thierig highlighted the investment on X.
Context:
The latest investment builds on Tesla's previously announced commitment of nearly €1 billion ($1.2 billion) at the Gruenheide site, which the company announced in December.
The combined investment reflects Tesla's push to bring battery cell manufacturing and vehicle assembly under one roof at its only European factory.
Giga Berlin only produces the Model Y today, but CEO Elon Musk has hinted at Cybercab, Optimus, and Semi production potentially starting at the factory in the future
Giga Berlin currently employs over 11,000 workers. The factory is already in an active expansion phase, with Tesla announcing in April that it would add around 1,000 new jobs at the site to support a 20% increase in Model Y production.
Battery cell production at the expanded facility is targeted to begin next year.
Tesla teased Giga Berlin’s battery cell production activities in a recent video celebrating the facility’s 750,000 vehicle production milestone:
Giga Berlin becomes a serious battery hub
At 18 GWh of annual capacity, Gruenheide would become one of the more significant EV battery production sites in Europe.
It will be larger than the first phase of the Contemporary Amperex Technology Thuringia GmbH (CATT) plant, which is undergoing a phased ramp-up of production capacity towards its initial 14 GWh annual goal.
For Tesla, the math is straightforward: building cells where you build cars cuts logistics costs, shortens the supply chain, and reduces exposure to the kind of import disruptions that have hit European automakers hard.
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