Tesla wins court approval to build Gigafactory in Germany

Berlin, Feb 22 (IANS) Electric Vehicle (EV) maker Tesla has secured an approval from a German court to cut down a forest near the capital Berlin to build its first European car and battery factory.

The permission was granted by the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg to continue clearing 91 hectares of forest in preparation for its fourth factory, where it plans to build batteries, powertrains and vehicles, starting with the Model Y, Engadget reported on Friday.

The factory is set to employ over 10,000 people and Brandenburg, a state surrounding Berlin, hopes that Tesla’s arrival can generate thousands of high quality jobs.

The factory will produce at least 500,000 electric cars each year and Tesla plans to have the plant up and running by the middle of next year.

Local environmental group Guene Liga Brandenburg, who had earlier raised concerns about the project, were upset that Tesla was allowed to begin clearing the land before the company received all of the necessary building permission, but the court rejected those arguments, stating that “the decision is final”.

After Shanghai in China, Elon Musk has chosen Berlin as Tesla’s next Gigafactory outside of the US.