Tesla Giga Berlin is the electric automaker’s first European production facility, and it is slated to begin production of the Model Y crossover later this year. However, reports out of Germany indicate that Tesla’s German EV manufacturing facility is poised to be delayed six months due to numerous constraints that deal with battery pack output. However, Brandenburg Economic Minister Jörg Steinbach, who has been one of Tesla’s most vocal supporters in their quest to open the German facility, isn’t buying the six-month delay story at all. Steinbach still believes Tesla is on pace for a late-Summer or early-Autumn start at Giga Berlin.
The delays at Giga Berlin are not unfamiliar territory for those who have been following the site’s development over the past 18 months. After being announced by Elon Musk in late 2019, Tesla started land preparations in January 2020, only to begin erecting the mainframe of the facility just a few months later. The site has been subjected to numerous short-term delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and some application holdups that needed preliminary approval before Tesla could move forward. However, recent reports from Germany suggest a more long-term delay is in store for Tesla because battery pack output won’t allow for vehicle production.
“I don’t have the faintest idea of how anyone can come up with a six-month delay. If nothing happens out of the ordinary, I still expect a start of production in late Summer or Early Autumn.”
-Jörg Steinbach, German Economic Minister, State of Brandenburg
Many outlets have cited Automobilwoche’s story that says the German manufacturing plant won’t become operational until January 2022. The article indicates that company circles close to Elon Musk state the CEO is accepting the January 2022 date, even though just last week during the Q1 2021 Earnings Call, Musk said that limited production would occur at both Giga Berlin and Giga Texas this year.
Musk said:
“We’re building factories as quickly as we can. Both Texas and Berlin are progressing well, and we expect to have initial limited production from those factories this year and volume production from Texas and Berlin next year.”
(Credit: @gigafactory_4)
Steinbach not buying Giga Berlin delay stories
Now that the report has been in the loop for a few days, plenty of people are finding out that Giga Berlin is apparently facing the six-month delay. One of the people disagreeing with those reports is Brandenburg Economic Minister Jörg Steinbach, a well-known politician who has been ecstatic regarding Tesla’s entry into the German economy. Steinbach told Teslarati earlier today that he doesn’t know where the six-month delay rumors are culminating from. Still, he expects Giga Berlin to face “approximately three months” of delay time.
“I don’t have the faintest idea of how anyone can come up with a six-month delay,” Steinbach said to Teslarati in an interview. “If nothing happens out of the ordinary, I still expect a start of production in late Summer or Early Autumn,” the Economic Minister added.
While Tesla has expressed some frustration with the German approval process, it is not unordinary for things to take several years to earn ultimate approval. Teslarati spoke to German engineer and Tesla enthusiast Alex Voigt last week, who indicated that many projects take 3-5 years to gain ultimate approval.
It appears that the basis of the delays seems to be blamed on a delay in 4680 cell production in Berlin, but the German factory’s battery line was not supposed to support the initial vehicle production efforts in the first place. Tesla’s Kato Road facility in Northern California sits just a stone’s throw away from the Fremont factory where Tesla has manufactured its cars since 2012. This is where Tesla is refining and developing the 4680 battery cell, which differs greatly from the batteries that Tesla currently uses in terms of power and performance, and it will support Tesla’s initial efforts in Berlin, according to Drew Baglino, the company’s Senior VP of Powertrain and Energy Engineering.
“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 during the Q3 2020 Earnings Call.
The delays at Giga Berlin could be confused with something as simple as an extended timeline, as Tesla’s addition of its 4680 battery cell manufacturing line to its application was submitted just last week. The additional portions of the application require more deliberation from regulators.
“If this additional investment now flows into the permit application, it goes without saying that the application documents must be revised, and then the approval authorities have the last word,” Dietmar Woidke, Brandenburg’s Prime Minister, said.
Tesla is still planning for Giga Berlin to begin production and deliveries this year, as it indicated in the most recent Update Letter that timing remains “on track for late 2021. Machinery for paint, stamping, castings, etc., continues to be moved into the building. In the meantime, we will continue to increase import volumes to Europe.”
Energy
Tesla Energy is the world’s top global battery storage system provider again
Tesla Energy captured 15% of the battery storage segment’s global market share in 2024.
Tesla Energy held its top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year, capturing 15% of global market share in 2024, as per Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings.
Tesla Energy’s lead, however, is shrinking, as Chinese competitors like Sungrow are steadily increasing their global footprint, particularly in European markets.
Tesla Energy dominates in North America, but its lead is narrowing globally
Tesla Energy retained its leadership in the North American market with a commanding 39% share in 2024. Sungrow, though still ranked second in the region, saw its share drop from 17% to 10%. Powin took third place, even if the company itself filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, as noted in a Solar Power World report.
On the global stage, Tesla Energy’s lead over Sungrow shrank from four points in 2023 to just one in 2024, indicating intensifying competition. Chinese firm CRRC came in third worldwide with an 8% share.
Wood Mackenzie ranked vendors based on MWh shipments with recognized revenue in 2024. According to analyst Kevin Shang, “Competition among established BESS integrators remains incredibly intense. Seven of the top 10 vendors last year struggled to expand their market share, remaining either unchanged or declining.”
Chinese integrators surge in Europe, falter in U.S.
China’s influence on the BESS market continues to grow, with seven of the global top 10 BESS integrators now headquartered in the country. Chinese companies saw a 67% year-over-year increase in European market share, and four of the top 10 BESS vendors in Europe are now based in China. In contrast, Chinese companies’ market share in North America dropped more than 30%, from 23% to 16% amid Tesla Energy’s momentum and the Trump administration’s policies.
Wood Mackenzie noted that success in the global BESS space will hinge on companies’ ability to adapt to divergent regulations and geopolitical headwinds. “The global BESS integrator landscape is becoming increasingly complex, with regional trade policies and geopolitical tensions reshaping competitive dynamics,” Shang noted, pointing to Tesla’s maintained lead and the rapid ascent of Chinese rivals as signs of a shifting industry balance.
“While Tesla maintains its global leadership, the rapid rise of Chinese integrators in Europe and their dominance in emerging markets like the Middle East signals a fundamental shift in the industry. Success will increasingly depend on companies’ ability to navigate diverse regulatory environments, adapt to local market requirements, and maintain competitive cost structures across multiple regions,” the analyst added.
Energy
Tesla inks multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution to avoid tariff pressure
Tesla has reportedly secured a sizable partnership with LGES for LFP cells, and there’s an extra positive out of it.
Tesla has reportedly inked a multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution in an effort to avoid tariff pressure and domesticate more of its supply chain.
Reuters is reporting that Tesla and LGES, a South Korean battery supplier of the automaker, signed a $4.3 billion deal for energy storage system batteries. The cells are going to be manufactured by LGES at its U.S. factory located in Michigan, the report indicates. The batteries will be the lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, chemistry.
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It is a move Tesla is making to avoid buying cells and parts from overseas as the Trump White House continues to use tariffs to prioritize domestic manufacturing.
LGES announced earlier today that it had signed a $4.3 billion contract to supply LFP cells over three years to a company, but it did not identify the customer, nor did the company state whether the batteries would be used in automotive or energy storage applications.
The deal is advantageous for both companies. Tesla is going to alleviate its reliance on battery cells that are built out of the country, so it’s going to be able to take some financial pressure off itself.
For LGES, the company has reported that it has experienced slowed demand for its cells in terms of automotive applications. It planned to offset this demand lag with more projects involving the cells in energy storage projects. This has been helped by the need for these systems at data centers used for AI.
During the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja confirmed that the company’s energy division had been impacted by the need to source cells from China-based suppliers. He went on to say that the company would work on “securing additional supply chain from non-China-based suppliers.”
It seems as if Tesla has managed to secure some of this needed domestic supply chain.
Energy
Tesla Shanghai Megafactory produces 1,000th Megapack for export to Europe
The Shanghai Megafactory was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the Megapack.
Tesla Energy has announced a fresh milestone for its newest Megapack factory. As per the electric vehicle maker, the Shanghai Megafactory has successfully produced its 1,000th Megapack battery.
The facility was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the grid-scale battery system.
New Tesla Megapack Milestone
As per Tesla Asia in a post on its official accounts on social media platform X, the 1,000th Megapack unit that was produced at the Shanghai Megafactory would be exported to Europe. As noted in a CNEV Post report, Tesla’s energy products are currently deployed in over 65 countries and regions globally. This allows Tesla Energy to compete in energy markets that are both emerging and mature.
To commemorate the 1,000th Megapack produced at the Shanghai Megafactory, the Tesla China team posted with the grid-scale battery with celebratory balloons that spelled “Megapack 1000.” The milestone was celebrated by Tesla enthusiasts on social media, especially since the Shanghai Megafactory only started its operations earlier this year.
Quick Megafactory Ramp
The Shanghai Megafactory, similar to Tesla’s other key facilities in China, was constructed quickly. The facility started its construction on May 23, 2024, and it was hailed as Tesla’s first entry storage project outside the United States. Less than a year later, on February 11, 2025, the Shanghai Megafactory officially started producing Megapack batteries. And by March 21, 2025, Tesla China noted that it had shipped the first batch of Megapack batteries from the Shanghai plant to foreign markets.
While the Shanghai Megafactory is still not at the same level of output as Tesla’s Lathrop Megafactory, which produces about 10,000 Megapacks per year, its ramp seems to be quite steady and quick. It would then not be surprising if Tesla China announces the Shanghai Megafactory’s 2,000th Megapack milestone in the coming months.
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