Tesla has started installing its IDRA Giga Press casting machines in Gigafactory Berlin, shortly after it received another early approval permitting machine installation at the production plant from the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment.
Drone operator, Tobias Lindh captured the installation process of Tesla’s Giga Press machines at Giga Berlin. There seems to be two 6,000-ton IDRA Giga Presses being installed on the site. Sometime last year, documents from Tesla revealed that there would be at least eight Giga Press machines at Giga Berlin.
Based on Lindh’s drone footage, the installation seems to be in progress. Some Model Y Body-in-Whites from Tesla’s Fremont factory were spotted in Giga Berlin’s lot a week or so ago, hinting that the EV manufacturer may start testing its machines soon, too.
The final environmental approval for Tesla Giga Berlin’s production plant is still pending. Brandenburg’s State Environment Agency told rbb that Tesla is applying for two more pre-approvals. The first pre-approval seeks permission to remove the topsoil from the forest area Tesla recently cleared. Tesla also wants to lay underground lines for Giga Berlin, so it applied for a second pre-approval.
Tesla has not commented on whether or not it will delay the start of production for Gigafactory Berlin. At the moment, it seems Tesla is aiming to begin production by July 2021 as originally planned, even though its final approval is still pending.
According to ZDF magazine’s Frontal 21, Tesla has already invested up to 5.8 billion euros ($6,896,316) on Giga Berlin. “The order of magnitude is right,” noted a Brandenburg Ministry of Economics. Tesla has neither confirmed Frontal 21’s estimates nor released information about its investments in Giga Berlin.
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