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Tesla ramps hiring for Giga Berlin’s cell production ahead of Chinese battery manufacturers’ arrivals

(Credit: Tobias Lindh)

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Tesla has started hiring for Gigafactory Berlin’s battery cell production operations. Drew Baglino, the Senior Vice President of Power Train and Energy Engineering as well as the VP of Technology, posted job openings on his LinkedIn page. He listed positions for a Cell Manufacturing Operational Leader, a Cell Shop Senior Leader, and a Manufacturing Engineering Manager. 

“Accelerate the transition to sustainable energy by joining Tesla’s cell manufacturing effort in Berlin, recruiting for leadership positions now,” Baglino wrote in his post. Based on the job titles he posted, Tesla has started looking for individuals who will eventually lead the cell production team. 

The cell production team at Giga Berlin will make Tesla’s 4680 cells which the EV automaker introduced during Battery Day. Elon Musk confirmed in October that Giga Berlin’s Model Y will be made with Tesla’s 4680 cells and a structural battery pack. The Model Y will likely be the first German-made Tesla vehicle equipped with the company’s 4680 cells and structural battery. 

The Tesla executive has remarked that Giga Berlin’s initial Model Y ramp will use 4680 cells from Tesla’s Fremont Factory in California. “We will incorporate 4680 design solutions into many applications in time across both energy and vehicle and we can use our pilot production facility in Fremont to support the new factory in Berlin as it ramps,” Baglino said in Tesla’s last earnings call. 

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Asian Battery Manufacturers Coming to Germany

Tesla Giga Berlin won’t be the only cell manufacturer coming to Germany. According to Tagesspiegel, at least two Chinese battery suppliers will build cell production factories in the next few years. 

Last year, Asian battery manufacturer SVolt Energy started looking for a battery factory location in Brandenburg, near Berlin. SVolt plans to reveal the location of its battery production facility in Germany this coming Tuesday. Within the next three years, the €2 billion factory is projected to produce 24 GWh of batteries per year, which should be enough for around 300,000 to 500,000 electric vehicles. It is also projected to create up to 2,000 jobs. 

By the time SVolt has ramped its battery production, Tesla’s cell production would probably be running smoothly. The American battery manufacturer and EV-maker has plenty of time to develop and refine cell production at Fremont Factory and then Giga Berlin. Plus, it won’t be alone in Germany.

CATL, Tesla’s battery supply partner in China for Giga Shanghai, also plans to build a factory in Germany. The location of CATL’s battery has already been revealed. It will be located in Erfurt Kreuz and is slated to start cell production in 2022. 

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CATL is providing lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells for Giga Shanghai’s Model 3 SR+. Tesla estimated that Giga Berlin will start Model Y production in 2021. Model 3s will also be built in Germany, but the EV automaker has not yet announced when production of the all-electric sedan will start.

The company’s Shanghai Gigafactory has begun exporting Model 3 vehicles to Europe recently. Given CATL’s imminent arrival to Germany, perhaps the company may provide LFP batteries for Giga Berlin’s Model 3 SR+ production line in the future as well. 

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Ferrari unveils its Luce EV, and its reception has been a disaster

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Credit: Ferrari

Ferrari unveiled its Luce EV over the weekend, and so far, its reception has been an absolute disaster, gathering negative reactions from a wide variety of people, including former executives.

The stock even took a hit on its first day of trading following the unveiling, dropping over 7 percent at one point.

Ferrari moving to EVs from its traditional V12s and mid-engine sports cars is a massive move. It was designed by Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newsom’s LoveFrom studio, which is known for design work for tech giant Apple. “Luce” means “light” in Italian, so Ferrari drew inspiration for its name from its sleek design, characterized by a smooth, sculpted body with rounded edges.

But its reception has been far from what Ferrari expected. The overall design has drawn some harsh criticism since its reveal, and it is simply stunning that such a storied company, with a rich history of beautiful, powerful cars has revealed a design that many are not a fan of.

Responses to the design were widely negative, with some saying, “Enzo is rolling in his grave,” and “This looks like a Nissan LEAF with a bad body kit.”

Former Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo said:

“If I said what I really think, I’d harm Ferrari. We’re risking the destruction of a myth, I’m very sorry about that. I hope they at least remove the Prancing Horse from that car.”

Ferrari has scaled back EV commitments in the past, primarily in response to weaker-than-expected demand for its electric powertrains.

Priced at roughly $640,000 in the U.S., it is tough to see how this car will ever truly live up to the massive expectations many had for it. It almost feels like, to a certain extent, Ferrari is looking for a way to get out of building EVs.

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Tesla unveils juicy new detail on the Roadster and hints at new unveil timeline

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A red Tesla Roadster driving around a turn
(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla unveiled a juicy new detail on the Roadster, its long-delayed supercar project, and additionally hinted at a new unveiling timeline, as it appears yet another month will pass without seeing the capabilities of the vehicle.

Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla, Lars Moravy, revealed on the Ride the Lightning podcast that the Roadster will be built at Gigafactory Texas, adding that “you’ll start to see a lot of things unfold in the next months.”

While we get a good detail on the plant of manufacture, we also get another letdown, as it appears the unveiling event will not take place in May, as CEO Elon Musk hinted during the Earnings Call.

The Roadster was first unveiled back in 2017, alongside the Semi, which entered production earlier this year. It was Tesla’s attempt at a true supercar; it would be rare, expensive, and lightning quick, among other incredible capabilities, like potentially hovering for a short period thanks to a collaboration project with SpaceX.

However, the vehicle was set to be delivered in 2020. Parts and supply chain issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic started these delays, and since then, Tesla, and specifically Musk, have wanted to push the capabilities of the Roadster to somewhere the human mind may not be able to currently comprehend.

Both Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and Moravy have said many things about the Roadster over the past few years, hinting that the car truly could be worth the wait. However, the continuous delays we’ve seen have undoubtedly been discouraging.

With that being said, it’s not like Tesla has been doing nothing. Instead, the company has been focusing on revamping current models, phasing out others, and working on developing the cars of the future, specifically, the Cybercab, which entered production at Giga Texas in April.

Despite the Roadster’s delays, there is still a ton of anticipation for the vehicle to be released. It will have a steering wheel, as Musk said it will be “the best of the last of the human-driven cars.”

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NASA just gave SpaceX more crew missions because Boeing can’t certify

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NASA has filed a procurement notice announcing its intent to add six post-certification missions to SpaceX’s existing Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract. The agency said it would order up to three of those missions immediately upon adding them to the contract, with the remaining three available as needed through the end of the International Space Station’s planned operations in 2030.

The reason for the expansion is straightforward. NASA cited recently shortened ISS mission durations, technical issues and schedule delays encountered by Boeing, the allocation of missions between Boeing and SpaceX, and the ongoing technical challenges of maintaining a reliable crew transportation capability as the driving factors behind the decision. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner has still not been certified for crewed flights, and a cargo-only Starliner mission was not included on NASA’s most recent mission manifest. With Boeing effectively sidelined for the foreseeable future, SpaceX is the only American company capable of rotating crews to the station.

SpaceX Board has set a Mars bonus for Elon Musk

The history behind this contract tells the fuller story of how SpaceX got here. NASA originally awarded SpaceX its Commercial Crew contract in 2014 for $2.6 billion. In 2022 NASA modified the contract to add five missions covering Crew-10 through Crew-14, worth $1.436 billion, bringing the total contract value at that point to $4.9 billion. The recent May 18 filing by NASA extends that runway further, with Crew-12 currently docked at the station and Crew-13 assigned and targeting a mid-September 2026 launch.

According to a report by SpaceNews, NASA stated in its filing: “It is necessary to award additional PCMs to SpaceX given the recently shortened ISS mission durations, technical issues and schedule delays encountered by Boeing, the allocation of missions between Boeing and SpaceX, NASA’s projections for when an alternative crew transportation system may become available, and the ongoing technical challenges of maintaining a reliable capability for crewed flights to ISS.”

No dollar value for the new six missions has been publicly confirmed yet, but based on the 2022 precedent of roughly $287 million per mission, the new block could represent close to $1.7 billion in additional contract value. With SpaceX simultaneously preparing Starship as NASA’s Artemis lunar lander, filing its S-1 for a June IPO, and now absorbing more ISS crew rotation work, the company’s role as the primary contractor for American human spaceflight is no longer a matter of circumstance. It is NASA policy.

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