Tesla 4680 batteries. Source: Tesla/Twitter
Tesla will invest up to 5 billion euros ($A8 billion) in a lithium-ion battery plant at “Giga Berlin”, with a decision on whether the German government will tip in 1 billion towards it expected by the end of 2021.
German media stories say that a new publication by the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWi) provides new information on the costs of the battery factory that Tesla is planning on the site of its Gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin.
Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk flagged the Berlin battery factory at a conference in 2020, saying it would eventually be one of the largest battery plants in the world with 250GWh capacity.
The Germany ministry of economic reportedly gave the EV maker the green light to start making preparations in early 2021, with the project ruled eligible for the European Union’s 2.9 billion euro ($A4.58 billion) European Battery Innovation project.
Shortly after this announcement in January, it was reported that one billion euro of the German share was earmarked for Tesla, which the German ministry initially did not confirm.
Teslamag.de now reports that the ministry’s monthly report “Economic Policy Highlights ” now shows that Tesla wants to invest around 5 billion euros in cell production.
It is the single largest investment in battery manufacture currently being planned in Germany, where 21 billion euros in battery factory investment – almost half of all Europe’s 46 million euros total – is planned.
According to reports, Tesla will receive 1.135 billion euros in state funding for the development of its German battery production, the Tagesspiegel wrote without citing the source.
The ministry was quoted by Teslamag.de as saying that information on the amount could only be given when the funding decision was handed over. That is planned for the fourth quarter of this year.
There are more than 70 electric vehicles now available in Germany according to BMWi, and every fourth car sold is a plug-in electric vehicle.
In the first half of 2021, Volkswagen sold more than 38,000 electric e-Up! and ID.3s, while Tesla sold more than 13,000 Model 3s.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.
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