Tesla Will Not Start Mass Battery Production Before 2024

JAKARTA - US electric automotive company Tesla said it would not start mass production of battery cells in European Gigafactory near Berlin before 2024. This was reported by German Business Daily Handelsblatt, quoted from Antara, Sunday, October 16.

According to the report, problems have been found with an important production process presented by Tesla CEO Elon Musk two years ago.

Tesla's spokesman in Germany could not immediately be reached for comment.

Currently, battery research at the site in Gruenheide, Germany, includes only electrodes, while all equipment for production steps left over from the rollout, assembly and performance of cells is being moved to Tesla headquarters in Texas, according to the report.

At full capacity, the Gruenheide plant, which is still in the upgrade stage, will produce 500 thousand cars per year, or more than Volkswagen globally in 2021 with the production of 450 thousand battery-electric vehicles.

It will also eventually produce 50 gigawatts/hours (GWh) of battery cells, but Tesla has not communicated a timeline for that production section.

Tesla is still planning to build a battery cell factory in Gruenheide in the long term, the report said, adding that the company should control what the electrode's so-called dry layer before it can happen.