Potsdam, Germany:US electric carmaker Tesla is now producing 5,000 cars per week, half way to its first production target for the site in Germany. Tesla announced the progress in a tweet, with the number corresponding to 250,000 vehicles per year. The company’s initial aim is to produce 10,000 vehicles per week, or 500,000 per year. Tesla has been producing electric cars at the Grünheide site outside Berlin for about a year and had previously said it was making around 4,000 cars per week. The factory currently employs around 10,000 people but is planning to expand further, with the goal of eventually producing 1 million cars although it is unclear when this may happen.
The first application for partial approval has been submitted to the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment. However, environmental activists are concerned that the expansion plans affect an area where the water is protected. The company says it does not need any additional water for the expansion because it wants to treat the wastewater.(DPA)
