Last year, Tesla revealed that two new gigafactories in Texas and Berlin, Germany, will begin production, but a series of delays in mass production of the 4680 battery version, global chip shortages and the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war have put the progress of mass production of new gigafactories on the question mark. However, according to the official interview invitation released by Tesla, the Berlin Gigafactory will hold a new car off-line celebration on March 22, when Elon Musk will attend and personally hand over 30 new Model Y Performance cars to customers.
This news coincides with previous foreign media reports, that is, it is expected to hold a formal operation celebration on March 22 or 23. Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory was due to start operations in July 2021, but inspection work had not yet been completed in Germany.
Finally, the environmental permit was finally approved last week, but according to German Environmental Minister Axel Vogel, Tesla still has about 400 conditions to be met, and the plant must be fully approved within 2 weeks to truly start work. In other words, if all goes well, the Berlin Gigafactory will not open until March 18 at the earliest, with the first new cars handed over on the 22nd.
The Next Gigafactory in Berlin is expected to produce up to 500,000 Model 3s and Model Ys per year to supply the needs of the global market. There is also a small detail, the picture used on the invitation is a gray Model Y, but the 30 Model Y Performances that will be handed over to the owners on the 22nd should all be black, because according to the prospective owners who have pre-ordered, the Performance models are only available in black, and there are no other car colors to choose at that time.