This day has finally arrived. The first batch of Germany-made Model Y was officially delivered today, with Musk showing up at the scene overseeing this significant moment. This may also serve as good news to Taiwan consumers.
Tesla’s Giga Berlin had finally commenced operation at the end of March 2022 after two years of turbulences, and has started to deliver the first batch of the Germany-made electric SUV Model Y.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk was rumored last week to be flying to Berlin, and it turns out that it was to attend the opening ceremony this time. Musk also oversaw the delivery ceremony of the first unit Germany-made Model Y, which symbolizes the importance of this factory to him.
Tesla entered a sizable expansion phase since 2020, and delivered nearly one million units last year. The Giga Berlin is not only expected to add 500K units per year, but also facilitates efficiency in Tesla’ logistics.
Tesla almost solely depends on Giga Shanghai for its European market, and the initiation of production at Giga Berlin would allow the China and USA plants to take over the orders of other markets.
This comes as good news to Taiwanese consumers since the capacity of Giga Berlin and Giga Texas is concatenated to whether Taiwan is able to obtain Model Y, which is likely to become the best-selling model after a year or so. It is noteworthy that the aforementioned forecast comprises of all automotive models, instead of only EVs.
With Giga Berlin handling orders for Europe, and Giga Shanghai responsible for orders in China and other Asian regions, Giga Texas and Giga Berlin are highly likely to allow sales of Model Y in Taiwan. There shouldn’t be any doubts to whether the model can rise to the champion of EV sales since a lot of fanatics have been waiting for more than two years.
Industrial Transformation and Upgrades Brought Forward by Giga Berlin
Giga Berlin is also immensely significant to Germany. The factory is situated at Brandenburg, a suburb of Berlin that relies on agriculture and colliery, and its goal in extricating from the highly polluting colliery industry happens to be the best transformation opportunity for Tesla. Giga Berlin has recruited 2,000 employees, and hired 12K workers at the end.
Another thing worth noting is that Giga Berlin is configured with a comprehensive in-house battery production line that Tesla refuses production subsidy by the EU on lithium batteries since the price for a subsidy of US$1 billion is the leakage of relevant battery technology. This “insignificant” sum of money is nothing to Tesla compared to its EV lifeline.
With that being said, the first batch of Model Y and succeeding vehicles will not be adopted with the latest 4680 battery, and will continue using the old 2170 battery.
It becomes even more intriguing as to where the next Giga factory will be located now that Giga Berlin has commenced production. The three countries of China, India, and Russia that were initially most favored for the possibility are now left with two, where South America and Southeast Asia remain likely candidates, or perhaps Musk is looking to develop in his hometown South Africa? All shall be answered before the end of this year.
(Cover photo source: Tobias Lindh)