Tesla Gigafactory 4 Preparing to Produce Its Own Battery Cells, Hints Brandenburg Job Listing

A Tesla job listing for Gigafactory 4 reveals that the all-electric car maker is preparing to make its own battery cells in Berlin. Elon Musk and other Tesla executives have been hinting at in-house batteries for quite some time. Gigafactory Berlin seems like its already preparing to make their plans happen.

Teslamag noticed an exciting job listing for a Gigafactory Engineering position, specifically for GF4 in Berlin. Tesla has looked for engineers before, and battery engineers, too. However, this particular listing specified a detail in the role's responsibility section that makes it quite different. 

The engineer hired for GF4 Berlin will be responsible for creating “novel detailed designs for a wide range of systems from electrolyte to high-purity water.” Electrive explained that knowledge of electrolytes and ultrapure water is needed to design battery cells, which Tesla currently outsources from Asian battery companies, including Panasonic in Japan and CATL (reportedly) in China. 

Tesla has been preparing for its own battery manufacturing facility for quite some time now. The automaker purchased Hibar Systems and Maxwell Technologies earlier this year, further providing hints that in-house battery production was high on its To-Do list. 

Tesla has also dived into mining. YouTuber Sean Mitchel explained how mining was another cost-effective component to the all-electric car maker’s plan to make its own battery packs, reported Clean Technica. Tesla mining for minerals for its own batteries could reduce manufacturing costs further and give the automaker more control over its battery packs’ production process.

🖤♥️💛 GIGA BERLIN 💛♥️🖤

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 12, 2019

Elon Musk reaffirmed Tesla’s in-house battery production plans when he stated that GF4 would build batteries on Twitter right after he announced Gigafactory Berlin. 

Ironically, Tesla’s plans to start manufacturing its own batteries in GF4 coincides with the German Federal Government’s plans to reduce the country’s dependence on battery suppliers in Asia. Teslamag stated that the Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier is willing to invest one billion Euros to promote projects that will support the federal government’s goals. 

So Tesla might have hit the nail on the head by building its battery manufacturing facility in Berlin. It seems the automaker’s goals align perfectly with the Germany federal government's plans.

Featured Image Credit: Tesla