In a recent survey, the residents of Grünheide voted against Tesla’s Giga Berlin expansion plans. The community’s vote is not binding.
Tesla plans to expand Giga Berlin’s premises by 170 hectares. The company planned to expand its Gigafactory in Germany early this year. Tesla Giga Berlin’s expansion is supposed to start with modernizing the existing facility and building a water recycling plant.
Then Tesla wants to build a second production facility, followed by a battery recycling plant down the line. Tesla also plans to build a freight yard, warehouses, and a company kindergarten on the 170 hectares. The expansion will result in Tesla clearing 100 hectares of forest.
The residents of Grünheide seem opposed to Tesla’s expansion plans because of its impact on the local environment and the community in general. In the recent vote, 3,499 residents voted against the expansion and 1,882 voted for it.
Mayor Arne Christiani of Grünheide was disappointed with the result. He mentioned that some important infrastructure projects tied to Tesla’s expansion plans were not brought up before the voting, like a new L386 state road that leads to the new freight station in Fanschleuse. Christiani believes the voting results are related to negative reports about Tesla last year. He will no longer present Tesla’s current development plan to community representatives.
Tesla Giga Berlin’s expansion would double the facility’s production capacity to 1 million units a year. Giga Berlin’s current target is to reach an annual production capacity is 500,000 units.
