BERLIN (AP) — Electric car manufacturer Tesla opened its first European plant on Tuesday outside Berlin, in an attempt to compete with German automakers in their own field.
The US company says its new “Gigafactory” will employ 12,000 people and produce half a million vehicles per year.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck attended the opening ceremony in Gruenheide, on the outskirts of the capital, with Tesla chief Elon Musk.
Habeck said the factory opening was a “nice symbol” that gasoline cars can be replaced by electric vehicles as Germany and other nations are trying to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and become independent from Russian oil. Tesla began construction of the huge facility less than three years ago, before receiving official permits. Had she not obtained them, she would have been forced to tear everything down.
“It's a different business culture of risk,” Habeck said, comparing Tesla's approach to the slowness of German construction projects, such as the new Berlin airport, whose construction began nine years late.
Environmental activists have warned that the factory could affect the supply of drinking water in the region.
Tesla has ignored the warnings. He has denied most of the press access to the venue and to Tuesday's ceremony.