The scene should be planned precisely: for the past weekend, according to several online media reports, it was planned for Tesla CEO Elon Musk to visit the German Gigafactory again. From the USA he should arrive by plane as usual, only to be taken from there in a mini convoy with two Model Ys to the new factory in Grünheide near Berlin. On the one hand, that promised the best image material and, on the other hand, perhaps news about the official start of Giga Berlin – but Musk didn’t come. When it was then said that the visit had been postponed by a few days, he made it clear that a visit to the Gigafactory was not planned until February.
Musk confirms Germany visit
It will hardly be possible to clarify whether the reported plans for the past weekend or this week ever really existed. In any case, they are obviously no longer up-to-date: he cannot comment on every rumor, but this is not true, the Tesla boss wrote on Twitter for an article about it. But he not only denied, but also revealed new information about his travel plans: “I’m on my way to Berlin in mid-February”.
Thus, another visit to Germany by Musk can be considered confirmed – and this could certainly be related to the start of series production of Model Y in the German factory. All the necessary documents for the final approval have been available since shortly before Christmas, as the state government of Brandenburg announced. Not even the country’s Economics Minister, who had tried to do it several times before, made any forecasts for the issue. But that Tesla procedure should be “on the last meters”., as he said last week.
I obv can’t comment on every rumor, but this isn’t true. Am headed to Berlin mid Feb, not this week.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2022
At the beginning of production of Model Y for customers – as a test Tesla is currently allowed to produce another 2000 of them, but don’t sell it – mid-February would be a good fit. The same applies to the fact that a more specific date for the delivery of Model Y Performance in Europe has been given since last week: Previously, “early 2022” was in the configurator, now this March is mentioned there – and an observer discovered in the source code of the website indications that the Performance variant then from the Gigafactory near Berlin should come. This is also supported by the fact that it should only be available with white or black paintwork in March and with other colors only in May.
Tesla boss could wait for proceedings
Of course, both Tesla’s production plans and the CEO’s travel plans could change — just as there’s no guarantee that the final few yards of the approval process will be smooth. For example, it will be exciting again shortly before the now announced Musk visit: According to reports, the administrative court in Frankfurt/Oder wants to have one on February 11th Associations sue against increased water production for Tesla negotiate. According to Brandenburg’s Environment Minister, the decision has no direct impact on the ability to be approved. But before the tiresome subject of water is at least off the table at first instance, the Tesla boss may not want to start his symbolic ride in the Model Y.