The US electric car manufacturer Tesla has submitted an application for the expansion of the plant almost a year after the start of production in Brandenburg. This was announced by the company on Thursday to the German Press Agency. Tesla wants to double the capacity according to the state environmental agency in the future to one million cars a year. However, the target of the first expansion stage, 500,000 cars per year, has not yet been achieved. According to Tesla, the first application for expansion relates primarily to changes to the existing factory in Grünheide near Berlin. This will be followed by further applications for partial approval, for example for possible new buildings.
Tesla does not fear a lack of water. "We have optimized our planning and production processes in such a way that the previously underlying and contractually agreed quantities of fresh water are also sufficient for this expansion," says the company. This is achieved through complete treatment and reuse of the waste water generated during production. Conservationists and the regional water board Strausberg-Erkner see risks in the expansion, Tesla rejects concerns. The factory is partly located in the water protection area. Brandenburg suffers from drought.
In the first expansion stage, Tesla had planned a capacity of 500,000 electric cars per year. This could save about 15 million tons of climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions on Europe's roads, the company said. The aim is to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. Most recently, it became known that Tesla produces 4000 cars per week. That would be about 200,000 cars a year. Currently, around 10,000 employees work at the plant, 12,000 are to be employed in the first expansion stage.
Conservationists criticize prime ministers
Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) had promised Tesla boss Elon Musk support for the supply of water and electricity in the expansion of the factory. In a recent letter, Woidke wrote that the state government would support Tesla in finding a suitable solution to both problems before the summer. The nature conservation association Nabu, the Green League and the Association for Nature and Landscape were horrified and spoke of incomprehension. Left Party leader Sebastian Walter accused Woidke of crossing a line when he assured Musk that he would find a solution to all problems - partly caused by Tesla itself - in the interests of the company.
The company has assured "maximum transparency" for the process for further expansion. The application will include all implications for the planned expansion of the factory on the current factory premises. Environmentalists accuse Tesla of a lack of transparency.
For violations due to illegal incidents on its factory premises in Grünheide, the car manufacturer has so far had to pay a total of 16,950 euros in fines at the instigation of the State Office for the Environment. This emerges from a response from the Ministry of the Environment to a request from AfD deputy Steffen John. These included unreported load tests of piles, three tank farms built without approval, leakage of cathode material (from batteries), an unreported hazardous materials warehouse, an unauthorized waste facility and the insertion of piles without a permit.