Tesla Bringing Prosperity And Green Industry To Brandenburg Region, Germany

Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg is Tesla’s first manufacturing location in Europe and its most advanced, sustainable and efficient facility yet. Slated for completion this year, it will manufacture hundreds of thousands of Model Y vehicles and millions of battery cells.

Tesla is indeed bringing prosperity and green industries and business to the region, as among other things they are currently hiring across a wide variety of skill and experience levels - no automotive experience necessary. Tesla is inviting anyone interested to join them at Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg to solve the next generation of engineering, manufacturing and operational challenges as they accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

Dr Steffen Kammradt is the CEO of the WFBB (Economic Development Agency Brandenburg) Executive Board, responsible for investment projects, business location and business cluster development, WFBB labour and human resources, fundamental issues of corporate development, press, public relations and marketing as well as the representation of the corporation.

According to Kammradt, Tesla's Giga Berlin is greatly attracting new investors to Brandenburg. The trade association of the region even started an advertising campaign abroad using the very presence of the manufacturer as the premiss. After Tesla's decision to build a factory in Brandenburg, investors began to show strong interest in the region. "… despite the COVID pandemic, more requests have been received since 2020 than in prior years," he said, adding that "Tesla manages the location of the business". According to Kammradt, Brandenburg has become the "place to be" for future mobility, sustainable economy, and energy transition - and this signal was given by Tesla.

He added that in October 2021 WFBB launched a campaign in the U.S., Japan, and South Korea to attract investments in the region. "We advertise in trade magazines," said Kammradt. This carries a clear message: "… this is where mobility, energy, and industry are being rethought and you can rely on this place."

As per another source, kiratas, "… in five or ten years, the country wants to continue to successfully compete for investors as a location". This runs in cooperation with the chambers of commerce, but also the employment agencies. According to the Federal Institute for Population Research, around 19,400 more people came into the country in 2020 than emigrated, said Kammradt.

Since it was founded 20 years ago, the business development agency has actively supported around 8,000 corporate projects with 67,000 jobs and an investment volume of a good 13 billion euros, and that is without including the settlement of Tesla in these figures.

As a reminder, Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg (also known as Gigafactory Berlin, Gigafactory 4 or Gigafactory Europe) is a European manufacturing plant for Tesla, Inc. under construction in Grünheide, Germany. The campus is 35 kilometres (20 mi) south-east of central Berlin on the Berlin–Wrocław railway, which forms the north border of the site between Erkner station and Fangschleuse railway station; and the A10 motorway, which forms the west border.
The facility and its Berlin location were announced by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in November 2019 at the "Das Goldene Lenkrad" award show.

The factory is planned to produce batteries, battery packs and powertrains for use in Tesla vehicles, and also assemble the Tesla Model Y, with a proposed start of production in 2021 (apparently, there are some numbers of the Model Y that have already been produced as of December). Construction work had begun by early 2020 with site preparation and foundation works, and according to a January 2020 publication by the local environmental agency, the factory was expected to begin operations in July 2021, but it was delayed due to administrative troubles. However, the "Giga Fest", celebration of completion was held back in October 2021.

Going back to Dr. Kammradt, he stated that the BER (Berlin) Airport is the second magnet alongside Tesla. With this environment, he ensures a high level of dynamism. In 2022 it will continue to attract investors, but also the question of sufficient skilled workers and the provision of attractive commercial space. Kammradt described their availability as “gold dust”. Brandenburg is still well positioned here, but space is already becoming significantly scarcer in other regions. “But we have to make provisions for the future now,” he said.

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.