Tesla Plans To Roll Out First Cars From Berlin Next Month, Elon Musk Warns Of Volume-Production Challenges

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday the electric automaker plans to start rolling off cars from the production lines at its new Giga Berlin as early as next month, Reuters reported Sunday, citing a live-streamed event from the plant site.

What Happened: Musk told the audience that achieving volume production at the Berlin factory would take much longer than it took to build the factory.

The company is hoping to secure approvals to begin production at the site in the coming weeks.

See Also: Elon Musk Throws Oktoberfest-Style Event At Tesla Factory Near Berlin

Musk said about 5,000-10,000 vehicles a day would amount to volume production, adding that the battery cells would be made there in volume by the end of next year.

Tesla plans to spend about $5.8 billion in a battery plant with 50 GWh capacity next to the site. That capacity would be more than Volkswagen Ag’s VWAGGY planned 40GWh capacity site in Salzgitter, as per the report.

Why It Matters: Industry analyst Daniel Ives had last week said he expects Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory to commence making electric cars over the next month “despite the red tape.”  The move, he said, would relieve a major logistics bottleneck as most of Tesla’s Model 3s/Ys are being produced in China and shipped to Europe.

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Musk announced the plans to build the Berlin gigafactory in 2019 but construction began last year. The factory could eventually clock a 500,000 annual electric vehicle capacity.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 1.02% lower at $785.49 on Friday.

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