Giga Berlin Cell Production Line Confirmed By Elon Musk

Featured Image Credit: @gigafactory_4/Twitter

Tesla Giga Berlin will produce its own battery cells, said Elon Musk during TSLA’s Q2 2020 Earnings Call. Musk revealed the news while answering a question from Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois.

Houchois noted that Elon Musk mentioned Tesla’s battery capacity was still a constraint to its growth, particularly in terms of production. So the Jefferies analyst posited whether Gigafactory Berlin’s battery capacity would be “consistent with the amount of assembly volume” Tesla expects from GF4. He also asked if Tesla would consider sourcing its battery requirements outside of Europe to meet its production goals in Giga Berlin.

“Okay. We can’t say too much about this, except that there will be local cell production, and that will serve the needs of the Berlin factory,” Elon Musk said, answering Houchois’ questions.

Tesla Gigafactory 4 Preparing to Produce Its Own Battery Cells, Hints Brandenburg Job Listing$TSLA #Tesla #GF4https://t.co/xq2mtdBKfB

— Vincent 🔥🔥🩳🔥🔥 (@vincent13031925) December 10, 2019

Around December 2019, Tesla posted a curious job for a Gigafactory Engineering position in Berlin. Details about the position hinted that Tesla was hiring someone familiar with designing battery cells. It was the first clue that Tesla would have a battery cell line at Giga Berlin.

In January of this year, Tesmanian pointed out clues found in Tesla’s Giga Berlin document which also hinted at a dedicated battery cell facility. Tesla provided a layout of its massive complex for GF4 which listed primary buildings that would be constructed on site. Among the most noticeable parts of the layout was a large area marked “cell.”

Tesla recently revised its Giga Berlin application. In the revision, Tesla said it would not make battery packs for vehicles produced in Grünheide, leading some to believe that the battery cell facility would no longer be constructed at Giga Berlin.

Tesla Gigafactory 4 Documents Hint at Dedicated Battery Cell Facilityhttps://t.co/VQDl6nLV4M

— Vincent 🔥🔥🩳🔥🔥 (@vincent13031925) January 6, 2020

However, Tesla’s edited application also leaned towards describing the company’s short terms goals for Giga Berlin. So Gigafactory 4’s battery cell production facility might be part of Tesla’s future plans.

Currently, the foundations and base of Giga Berlin’s Model Y production plant are being constructed. Brandenburg’s State Environment Agency has not approved Tesla’s application for Giga Berlin yet. But the EV automaker has been given four early approvals to start work on site. The most recent approval gave Giga Berlin permission to continue foundation work—including above the aquifier, earthworks, and structural works—and establish private traffic areas on site.