With a few interruptions and mishaps, construction of the Tesla gigafactory in Germany continues with the goal of starting production sometime in 2021. The Giga Berlin-Brandenburg will be one of the most modern factories in the world and one of the pioneers when it comes to introducing the latest Tesla technologies, such as 4680 cells or structural batteries in its electric cars.
Between the car factory and the battery factory, Tesla’s Giga Berlin is going to become a veritable colossus. Elon Musk aims to build the largest battery factory not only in Europe but in the world, with an annual output of 100 GWh that could be expanded to “200 or 250 GWh” in the more distant future. In more informal terms, we could say that the production objective is real savagery.
But in addition to batteries, Tesla intends to turn the German factory into a technological reference. As Elon Musk himself announced on Twitter, Giga Berlin-Brandenburg will be the first of its factories to produce Tesla’s new structural battery without modules, the 4680 cells – manufactured in the same facilities – and the new front and rear subframes, much simpler and cheaper to manufacture. These new subframes are made from 2-piece cast aluminum, instead of the current 70-piece steel stamped panels, saving production time and money.
Some innovations that will be introduced in the ‘German’ Tesla Model Y, which still do not have a defined date. According to Musk himself, so much new technology makes it difficult to predict when production will begin. However, the initial goal is to start production throughout the next 2021.
Some sources close to the Fremont factory (United States) recently announced that the plant has built 17 prototypes of the Model Y with all these new technologies. Tesla is already manufacturing the new 4680 cells at Fremont in a pilot project, but will ultimately move production to Berlin, where it will produce them in large volume.
In other articles, we have talked in-depth about the technology of 4680 cells, which can multiply their energy capacity by five and their power by six compared to 2170 cells, and will allow increasing the autonomy of cars by up to 16%. All this coupled with a 14% lower production cost per kWh compared to current ones.