Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), the US-based electric car manufacturer, seems to have finished site preparations for its Berlin ‘gigafactory’ production facility. Aerial drone footage obtained by YouTuber ‘Tesla Kid Grünheide’ and published on Drive.com on May 21 revealed cleared land.
Also, the footage showed access roads carved well out of the 300-hectare site just outside Berlin. Industrial ‘pile drivers’ are also visible on-site, which suggests that preparation of setting up foundations may start soon.
Tesla set an ambitious completion date for the Berlin site as of July 2021. This site will be the manufacturer’s fourth gigafactory and first in Europe. But, COVID-19 concerns saw Tesla withdraw its US employees from site preparation.
Picks for you
The new footage suggests that production has resumed. Side-by-side shots allegedly taken a week apart shows the access roads have been built in the past few weeks.
Germany’s economy minister Peter Altamaier last week said that he never expected any significant delays to the construction of the Berlin site due to the pandemic, according to Reuters.
The Berlin gigafactory encountered controversy in Germany. There was an injunction against the factory’s construction being overturned by German courts earlier in the year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted in late 2019 that the Berlin facility would be used to manufacture batteries, powertrains, and electric cars. Musk said that the company would start with the Model Y small SUV.
