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Tesla launches Giga Berlin website with focus on jobs and commitment to sustainability
Tesla launched the official website of Giga Berlin to showcase a multitude of career opportunities and the company’s strong commitment to sustainability for its first European factory.
With goals to create as much as 12,000 new jobs for residents of Grunheide, talent from across Germany and the rest of Europe, Tesla is looking to fill various positions in construction, manufacturing, engineering, and operations.
“Phase 1 will focus on production of Model Y, with a target capacity of 10,000 vehicles per week. We estimate that during Phase 1, we will employ up to 12,000 people, with roles being filled by local residents and employees from wider Europe. We want the best talent collaborating and working together to achieve the mission,” Tesla wrote on its new Giga Berlin website.
In addition to the various positions that Tesla seeks to hire for construction of its factory are manufacturing and engineering roles that will be focused on production line design as well as vehicle manufacturing.
Tesla is looking to form a team of professionals that will help “create the factory of the future” at Giga Berlin. Among the job openings is a position for a stamping production manager who will oversee the designing and building of new tooling for the production line. Tesla is also looking to hire chemical engineering leads who can help “create novel detailed designs for a wide range of systems from electrolyte to high purity water,” a position that can be crucial in the planned battery cell production at Giga Berlin.
The new positions in Germany further bolster Tesla’s strong presence in Europe as an employer. The company already has a strong workforce at its Model S and Model X assembly facility in Tilburg in the Netherlands, as well as at the Tesla Grohmann Automation in Prum, Germany. These facilities account for around 5,500 workers.
Tesla plans to begin construction of the Giga Berlin by mid-March and begin production as early as July 2021. In January, the Tesla board has approved the purchase agreement of the Grunheide property for about $45 million and is awaiting the second appraisal of an independent party. The electric car manufacturer has also started submitting documents needed to process a grant that can amount to 100 million to help fund the construction of Giga Berlin.
Earlier this week, the clearing of trees on the Giga Berlin build site was put on hold by court order after an environmental group lodged a complaint. Tesla has promised since the start to comply with all the rules in Germany and to focus on sustainability. It has outlined recently the environmental control measures it is taking to abide by the strict rules in the country such as relocation of wildlife from the forest. The Silicon Valley-based carmaker also put these things in the spotlight on its Giga Berlin website where it messages its commitment to improving the environment near Giga Berlin and the rest of the state of Brandenburg by collaborating with experts, environmental groups, residents, and German authorities.
Tesla will be replanting an area three times the size of its factory plot and has, so far, identified potential mass tree planting zones in Brandenburg an der Havel, Baruth/Mark, and Baad Saarow.
Giga Berlin will also install solar in a bid to help achieve the country’s “Energiewende” goals. Energiewende is the planned transition of Germany to a nuclear-free economy and expand the usage of renewable energies. The country aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% this year, by 55% in 2030 and up to 95% come 2050 compared to the GHG levels in the 1990s.
On Wednesday, the Minister for Economic Affairs Jorg Steinbach will issue an update on the state of preparations for Giga Berlin during a meeting of the Economic Committee in the State Parliament.
Recently, Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier voiced his support for the speedy construction of Giga Berlin, pointing out that any delay defeats the purpose of climate protection.
“The construction of the Tesla automobile plant in Brandenburg has been of great importance for more climate protection and one of the most important industrial settlements in the new federal states for a long time,” Altmaier said.
Just hours after Starship Flight 13 achieved a successful soft splashdown of its upper stage in the Indian Ocean on July 24, Elon Musk announced an ambitious next step for the company’s next launch of the rocket.
“Unless we discover problems after mission data review, SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower on [the] next flight,” the SpaceX CEO posted on X on Friday.
That “next flight” is expected to be Flight 14. The plan involves returning the Starship upper stage, commonly called the “ship,” to the Starbase launch tower in Texas and catching it mid-air using the same mechanical “chopsticks” arms that have already proven themselves with the Super Heavy booster.
Unless we discover problems after mission data review, SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower on next flight
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2026
A successful catch would mark the first time an orbital-class upper stage has been recovered this way, advancing SpaceX’s goal of full and rapid reusability for the entire vehicle.
SpaceX has already demonstrated the tower-catch technique multiple times with Super Heavy. The first successful catch came on Flight 5 in October 2024, when Booster 12 was plucked from the sky by the Mechazilla arms. Subsequent flights, including those involving Boosters 14 and 15, repeated the feat. Several of those recovered boosters were later inspected, refurbished, and flown again, proving the system’s viability for quick turnaround.
Traditional reusable rockets, such as SpaceX’s own Falcon 9 or Blue Origin’s New Shepard, land on legs either on land or droneships. Rocket Lab has recovered its small Electron first stages by helicopter, but those are far lighter vehicles.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), completed a catch of its booster on July 10. They are the only entity besides SpaceX to attempt and complete the feat.
Flight 13 provided encouraging data. The ship executed a controlled reentry, flipped, and soft-landed intact in the ocean after deploying Starlink satellites, offering the first clear post-splashdown views of an undamaged heat shield. The Super Heavy booster, meanwhile, experienced a harder splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
Musk has previously stressed that ship catches would only follow multiple successful soft ocean landings to minimize risk of debris over land.
If Flight 14 succeeds, SpaceX would take a major stride toward routine, rapid reuse of both stages—critical for lowering launch costs and supporting ambitious plans for lunar and Mars missions. For now, teams are reviewing the Flight 13 data. Should everything check out, the next Starship flight could deliver one of the most spectacular recoveries in aerospace history.
In a move echoing its earlier commitment to open innovation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced recently that the company plans to make the design and software of its Model S and Model X fully open source.
This follows the same approach Tesla took with its original Roadster, releasing all available design, engineering, and diagnostic materials in November 2023 so that “whatever we have, you now have.”
Just as Tesla made the original Roadster design & software open source, we plan to do the same with Model S & X
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2026
The Model S, introduced in 2012, was Tesla’s first mass-produced vehicle and a groundbreaking luxury electric sedan. It offered impressive range, rapid acceleration, and over-the-air software updates that redefined expectations for electric cars.
The Model X, launched in 2015, built on that foundation as a high-performance electric SUV notable for its distinctive falcon-wing doors, spacious interior, and advanced safety features. Both models served as flagships that helped establish Tesla as a leader in the EV industry and popularized long-range battery-electric vehicles.
Production of the Model S and Model X was wound down earlier in 2026, with manufacturing ending in the second quarter. Tesla redirected the Fremont factory space previously used for these vehicles toward higher-priority projects, including Optimus humanoid robots and the Cybercab autonomous vehicle.
By the time of Musk’s open-source announcement, custom orders had closed and only remaining inventory was available.
Open-sourcing the designs and software offers several clear advantages. Owners of these aging but still capable vehicles gain better access to technical documentation, diagnostic tools, and software resources, making independent repairs and modifications easier and more affordable.
Independent repair shops and third-party specialists can support the large existing fleet without relying solely on Tesla’s service network. Enthusiasts and engineers can study real-world implementations of Tesla’s battery, powertrain, and software systems, potentially accelerating broader industry progress in electric mobility.
The step aligns with Tesla’s 2014 patent pledge and its overall mission to advance sustainable transport by sharing hard-won knowledge rather than locking it behind proprietary walls.
By releasing these materials now that the models have left production, Tesla ensures continued support for its early adopters while freeing internal resources for future technologies. The open-source release of the original Roadster already enabled simulations, community projects, and deeper technical understanding.
Extending that practice to the Model S and Model X should deliver similar benefits on a larger scale, helping keep these influential vehicles relevant and repairable for years to come
Tesla flexed one incredible Robotaxi metric during the Q2 Earnings Call that skeptics have to hate to hear. The company’s platform has already driven more than 380,000 miles of unsupervised ride-hailing across several states with no notable incidents.
During the company’s Q2 Earnings Call on Wednesday, Vice President of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said:
“First of all, I’d like to state that the Robotaxi program has been operating extremely well. Especially in terms of safety, the program has had an impeccable safety record. We have driven more than 380,000 miles of unsupervised Robotaxi, now across six cities in two different states. We have had zero notable incidents. Any reports have been of other actors impacting us when we were stationary. I like to emphasize how safe the operation has been so far. Zero notable incidents over 380,000 miles.”
Elluswamy’s claim over Robotaxi miles is a significant milestone for Tesla in the grand scheme, especially considering this is a sizeable number of miles without any incident.
0 notable incidents across over 380,000 miles traveled by Robotaxi
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
Tesla’s self-driving approach is much different than that of other companies. Tesla has maintained that vision is the only thing needed to have a solid and effective self-driving suite. Many self-driving companies utilize things like LiDAR, sensors, and other elements to improve performance, but Elluswamy sent a jab at those who believe it’s needed.
“Historically, the so-called experts have always claimed that you need LiDARs, radars, HD maps, and the entire kitchen sink to drive safely. Here we show that such is not true. You can have safe, comfortable, and affordable autonomy with just cameras. This record should be a huge validation of Tesla’s entire AI approach.”
The feat of accumulating this many miles without any driver behind the wheel is impressive. The thing is, Tesla is also doing this across several different locations, with varying traffic rules, pedestrian levels, weather patterns, and other important factors.
While Tesla is not ready to roll out an unsupervised platform completely, it is a slow but steady indication that the company is well on its way to figuring things out.
The company’s attitude toward expansion is slow, safe, and controlled, and despite this huge milestone, it will still be some time until we see Tesla truly unleash unsupervised rides more aggressively.
SpaceX wants to catch Starship for launch 14, Elon Musk says
Tesla to open source Model S and Model X designs and software
