Tesla Giga Berlin looks to launch Phase 2 to reach 1M annual capacity

Gigafactory Berlin has developed a bit of a reputation among Tesla’s vehicle production facilities. While it is capable of producing Model Y units with excellent quality, and while it is home to the company’s most advanced paint shop, Giga Berlin is also the facility that constantly attracted opposition during its buildout process. 

Tesla faced numerous challenges while establishing operations at Giga Berlin. Environmentalists closely monitored Tesla’s activities and local residents expressed concerns about potential water depletion in the area. Giga Berlin critics have put in some serious effort to block the facility from operating. And when these initiatives were unsuccessful, efforts were still launched against the facility. 

While Giga Berlin has not yet reached its target capacity of 500,000 Model Y per year, Tesla is already looking ahead to the facility’s next phase. Phase 2 of Giga Berlin is expected to expand the plant’s production capacity by an additional 500,000 units, which should give the factory an output of one million vehicles per year.

This is definitely good news for the factory, but this also means that Tesla will have to navigate what could very well be another painful and exhausting approval process. An rbb24 report indicated that the company is in the public consultation stage for Phase 2. This provides individuals the opportunity to review the plans’ available documentation online from July 19 to August 18. The public will then have the opportunity to voice their concerns and opposition during a public hearing, tentatively scheduled for October.

As indicated in the plans submitted to the Brandenburg Environment Ministry, Tesla intends to construct a new large production hall for its expanded vehicle production area. The company is also looking to optimize operations on its existing line to enhance productivity. Apart from this, Tesla is planning to double the capacity of its battery production facility from 50 GWh to 100 GWh per year.

It is almost certain that Tesla’s plans to expand Giga Berlin will be met with opposition from the facility’s longtime critics. That being said, the electric vehicle maker could make a pretty compelling case. After all, Tesla believes it can double Giga Berlin’s capacity to 1 million vehicles per year without increasing its water usage at all. That’s a very difficult point to oppose, since the facility already consumes the same amount of water today

Tesla plans to introduce hybrid cooling towers and eliminate quench tanks in the casting process. Cascade rinsing systems will also be implemented in the paint shop and battery can wash process. Serious efforts will be made to treat and recycle water as well. Rainwater is also set to be captured, recycled, and utilized for cooling manufacturing equipment. Even the condensed water from the plant’s air conditioning system is expected to be used in the cooling towers to offset water consumption

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up. 

Tesla Giga Berlin looks to launch Phase 2 to reach 1M annual capacity

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Tesla Cybertruck completed body-in-white image leaked

An image reportedly taken from Gigafactory Texas has revealed what appears to be Cybertruck body-in-whites. The state of the body-in-whites in the photo suggests that Gigafactory Texas is closing in on the initial production of the all-electric pickup truck. 

The leaked image was shared with Teslarati by the Cybertruck Owners Club, where it attracted a good amount of attention from the forum’s users. Several observations were noted from the leaked image, mainly the fact that the units seem to be completed body-in-whites, with all their castings and stampings. From this, one could see some classic Tesla flourishes on the vehicle. 

The use of megacasts is evident in the leaked image, particularly on the front and rear of the body-in-white. As observed by some Tesla enthusiasts, the Cybertruck’s completed body-in-white does not seem to adopt the much-anticipated “exoskeleton” design that the company highlighted during the vehicle’s unveiling back in 2019. Its use of megacasts, however, suggests that the Cybertruck can still be built with some serious volume in mind. 

Perhaps most interesting about the recently-leaked image is just how much more refined the completed body-in-whites looked, at least compared to an earlier leak from back in December. At the time, a leaked image of the Cybertruck at Giga Texas was posted online, which provided a quick glimpse at the all-electric pickup truck’s rear megacast. 

Credit: Kim Java/Twitter

Based on comments from veteran Tesla teardown veteran Sandy Munro, the leak from December actually featured a megacast that was very much still a prototype. The automotive veteran noted that the megacast in the leaked image was made with several welded parts that are made through lost-foam casting, which is great for prototypes. This does not seem to be the case with the recently-shared photos of the Cybertruck body-in-whites from Giga Texas. 

“It’s called lost-foam (casting). So what I can do is I can make a foam pattern, something like that, pam it up in sand, and then I pour molten aluminum into that cast or into that mold, and that mold will sublimate the styrofoam. It’ll just vanish. It turns into a gas, and then it’ll fill up the core that’s inside that mold, and it’ll give me this casting. It’s a great idea for a prototype part,” Munro noted. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up. 

Tesla Cybertruck completed body-in-white image leaked

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Tesla’s Boring Co. people mover seemingly teased in leaked video

A leaked video showing what is allegedly a prototype of a Tesla-made people mover for tunneling startup The Boring Company has emerged online. If the vehicle in the video is indeed the tunneling startup’s people mover, it will make the Boring Company’s tunnels look pretty futuristic. 

The footage was shared online by Las Vegas video content creator Jacob Orth, who noted that the short clip was captured from inside the startup’s Las Vegas site. The content creator described the vehicle as a “secret Tesla van prototype designed for Elon Musk’s Vegas Loop.” 

As could be seen in the video, the alleged people mover features 12 passenger seats and one driver’s seat. Interestingly enough, the driver’s seat had a Tesla steering wheel. The vehicle’s roof looks very tall as well, which should make it easy for some passengers to stand without any issues. The vehicle’s apparent low profile and fully flat interior would make it quite friendly for passengers on wheelchairs as well. 

While the leaked video could not be verified as a legitimate Tesla or Boring Company project for now, its design and form does align with what the companies and Elon Musk have mentioned in the past. It does, for one, resemble a people mover concept teased by The Boring Company way back in 2017. The vehicle in question teased in the Boring Company’s video also featured a body that’s mostly glass, as well as a tall roof that makes it easy for passengers to stand and walk around. 

It should be noted that the idea of a dedicated people mover for The Boring Company has actually been explored even before the tunneling startup posted its teaser video. Elon Musk’s Master Plan Part Deux, for one, mentioned that Tesla was also looking to electrify “high passenger density urban transport.” A transport pod similar to what was seemingly teased in the video seems to fit the bill for a high density urban transport. 

The Boring Company’s Loop tunnels are intended to be a more efficient and more affordable alternative to conventional solutions such as subways. And while the Loop built in Las Vegas today proves that the concept is solid, the system at its current state is not at its full potential, thanks in no small part to its use of regular Tesla vehicles. With a high density urban transport vehicle in place, the Loop would likely be able to transport significantly more passengers.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up. 

Tesla’s Boring Co. people mover seemingly teased in leaked video

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