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Tesla announced its first European Gigafactory 1 year ago today: A timeline

Tesla Gigafactory Berlin render (Credit: Tesla)

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One year ago today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the automaker would open a production facility in Germany. Upon accepting an award at the Golden Steering Wheel awards alongside Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess, Musk shocked Tesla fans everywhere by revealing its intentions. But what has transpired for the electric automaker since then is a culmination of hard work, dedication, efficiency, and a little bit of luck, and Tesla has been able to erect several buildings of the facility just eleven months after the beginning of the construction process.

November 12, 2019: Elon Musk announces Giga Berlin

“Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding, for sure. That’s part of the reason why we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany. We are also going to create an engineering and design center in Berlin, because Berlin has some of the best art in the world,” Musk said at the Golden Steering Wheel Awards in Germany last year. Musk also stated that the Model Y would be the initial focus of the new Gigafactory’s production lines.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess exchange compliments at an award ceremony. (Credit: YouTube/AUTO BILD)

December 2019: Permits and Regulatory Approval

Tesla was working with the local government in Brandenburg to gain regulatory approval to begin ground clearing measures on the 741-acre plot of land that the automaker had purchased for a bargain price. After the land sale price was finalized, along with the permission of local authorities, Tesla could begin making progress on the land.

Credit: YouTube/J.-U. Koehler

January 2020: Ground clearing begins

After Tesla received preliminary approval, ground clearing began. While this sparked some controversy and concern from environmental groups, Tesla had already been planning to replace trees in areas surrounding Brandenburg, promising to replant three times as many trees as it had removed from the property. To be clear, the trees that were removed were of “inferior quality,” according to Grünheide Mayor Arne Christiani, as they were used for commercial cardboard production.

Credit: Emil Senkel

April 2020: Groundbreaking imminent, land preparation nears completion

On April 20th, Giga Berlin construction crews worked on the ground leveling and excavation of the land at the site. With only 90 hectares of land free from the trees, Tesla had its work cut out. Just a few days before ground leveling, the final tree was removed from the land, making it completely clear of any trees, all while not harming any wildlife.

Credit: YouTube | Giga Berlin / Gigafactory4, build GIGABERLIN

May 2020: Foundational work gets approval, begins

Foundational work began appearing at the site in late May. Tesla had to abide by some guidelines to keep drinking water protected and keep the noise down after 10 pm. Aquifers were also installed to protect any groundwater, which was a growing concern among local residents.

Credit: Twitter | @tobilindh

June 2020: Structures begin appearing, pillars and beams installed

The main pillars of the Drive Unit facility began appearing at the site, which were transported by train. Additionally, the installation of these pillars began just a few days later. It was the first structural portion of any of Giga Berlin’s facilities to be implemented, and prefabricated construction methods contributed to an accelerated construction effort at the site.

Credit: Twitter | @tobilindh

August 2020: Body In White construction begins, Drive Unit facility nears completion

The rapid pace of construction was evident as the Drive Unit facility neared completion, and the Body-in-White facility started construction. With pillars and beams being installed just two months prior for the first time, the rate of construction was certainly impressive. There was still plenty of work to go, however.

The Northern wall of the Drive Unit is nearly completed. (Credit: @gigafactory_4 on Twitter)

September 2020: Elon Musk’s First Visit to Giga Berlin

In a long-overdue visit because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Musk detailed Model Y redesign and battery cell production at the facility. Met with a warm reception, Musk’s first visit to Giga Berlin included visits with local politicians, including vocal supporter Jörg Steinbach, an economic minister.

Credit: @tobilindh | Twitter

Today: Where does Giga Berlin’s progress stand?

Currently, both the Drive Unit and Body-In-White facilities are constructed, with interior fittings being installed. Flooring and machinery have yet to make its way into these facilities, but progress is well ahead of schedule. While Tesla still lists Giga Berlin’s starting production date as Summer 2021, some of those in Europe have stated that deliveries could be expected in Q1 or Q2 2021.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Cybertruck

Tesla is ending Cybertruck production

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Credit: diagnosticdennis/Instagram and @smile__no via Tesla Owners of Santa Clarita Valley/X

Tesla is ending Cybertruck production sometime in mid-2027, according to CEO Elon Musk.

Musk made the announcement on X last night, which came as a shock to many. He said that the Cybertruck will end production “to make room for increased Cybercab production” at Gigafactory Texas.

It is a huge blow to the fans of Tesla who have come to love the Cybertruck and identify with it as a symbol of their fandom. It has been the best-selling electric pickup, but it has had an underwhelming sales performance in terms of what was expected. This is mostly due to Tesla not meeting the prices it planned to offer the Cybertruck, as its unveiling and actual release were four years apart.

Overall, the responses were mixed. Some fans understood the move toward Cybercab production, especially as Tesla is truly pushing the autonomous future through its Robotaxi platform. However, others did not understand it.

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“Damn, how many Cybercabs do you guys need?” one response read. Another said it was “Sad but understandable.”Even analyst Gary Black had responded to the news, stating he hoped Tesla planned to replace it with a traditional pickup design.

It doesn’t seem like that will be the case.

Tesla is so hell-bent on delivering autonomy and eventually providing a driverless service that owning a car seems like an arbitrary idea, according to their thesis. Instead, Cybercabs will be available to pick you up and drop you off on demand, safely, without any human help.

As a result, Tesla has thinned its lineup considerably, and one can only ask where the vehicle lineup goes from here. Eventually, it seems like Cybercab could be the only vehicle that Tesla will sell.

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SpaceX’s next Starship flight set to make history on Friday the 13th

SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15 and its first ship catch.

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SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15, the mission the company plans to use for its first attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower.

SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev shared the date on stage at the UP.Summit on Thursday, according to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, who was in attendance. It is the first launch target to come directly from a SpaceX executive. Until now, the public schedule had relied on FAA air traffic planning slides, which listed Flight 15 for no earlier than November 8 and later November 12. SpaceX has not posted an official mission page yet, and no launch time has been shared.

The date lands inside the window Elon Musk sketched out last month. Speaking at Giga Texas on October 10, Musk said the flight would “probably launch a little bit before Thanksgiving,” as Teslarati reported. On SpaceX’s third quarter earnings call ten days later, he confirmed that Flight 15 would try to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the ship, and put the odds of a successful ship catch at “more likely than not.” SpaceX also aired an animation of the maneuver during that webcast, showing the ship swinging vertical over Starbase before dropping into the tower’s chopsticks.

The hardware is ready. Booster 22 fired all 33 of its Raptor engines for a full duration static fire at Pad 2 on October 25. Ship 42 followed with a single engine burn simulating a deorbit maneuver on October 26 and a 60 second firing of all six engines the next day, according to NASASpaceflight. Ship 42 had already rehearsed the catch in September, when the Pad 2 arms lifted it into position and crews connected the quick disconnect arm while the vehicle hung from the tower.

The remaining hurdle is regulatory. The FAA’s Starship page does not yet list a Flight 15 license. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in October that, after “significant constructive engagement with the FAA,” she expects the license to cover a return to the launch site and a tower catch for both stages. Bringing the ship home means a reentry path that heads toward land, rather than ending over open ocean as every Starship flight so far has.

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SpaceX has caught Super Heavy three times, on Flights 5, 7 and 8, but the ship comes back from orbital velocity and has never been caught. Flight 14 on September 28 was the first Starship to reach orbit, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down despite an early engine shutdown that Musk blamed on engine computer software.

Musk has called a successful ship catch “the first time that there’s been full recovery of an orbital class rocket,” and he has already named the step after it: a Flight 16 where both the booster and the ship fly again. NASASpaceflight reports that Ship 43, the next vehicle in line, is set for static fire testing in December.

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EVgo taps Tesla Superchargers for mass charging expansion

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Credit: EVgo

EVgo has tapped Tesla Superchargers for its most recent efforts to expand its charging presence in the United States, a move that seems logical based on the effectiveness of the automaker’s own infrastructure.

EVgo opened its first Supercharger site in Illinois, a 12-stall station near downtown Chicago at 3145 South Ashland Avenue in the Riverside Square & River’s Edge center, right beside a grocery store. This marks the start of the company’s plan to deploy hundreds of Supercharger stalls across the United States, primarily at grocery-anchored Regency Centers properties where drivers can shop, eat, or run errands while they charge.

The new location uses Tesla’s Magic Dock technology so both NACS and CCS vehicles can plug in natively without drivers needing to carry their own adapters. Peak power reaches 325 kW at this site, with pricing set between $0.25 and $0.35 per kWh depending on the hour—the same rate for Tesla and non-Tesla drivers.

The stalls also appear in Tesla’s in-car navigation and Trip Planner, making them easy for Tesla owners to find and route to. Illinois has seen EV registrations rise nearly 60 percent over the past two years, and EVgo’s broader network has experienced more than 700 percent growth in charging demand over three years, so the timing fits the market’s trajectory.

Choosing Tesla hardware through the Supercharger for Business program turns out to have been a smart, practical move.

Tesla’s V4 stalls and cabinets deliver high, reliable power with a proven track record of strong uptime, while Magic Dock delivers true dual-standard compatibility in one package. Because the sites show up in Tesla’s navigation tools, EVgo instantly gains visibility among millions of existing Tesla drivers, which should raise utilization and help the company double its addressable market as more vehicles adopt NACS. EVgo still owns the stations and sets pricing, yet benefits from Tesla’s established hardware, longer cables, and operational support.

The result is faster, lower-risk infrastructure expansion that serves every EV driver—Tesla or otherwise—with convenient, high-power charging at everyday retail locations. For drivers, that means fewer adapters, more predictable stops, and a denser network just as electric vehicles become everyday transportation.

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