Gigafactory: Grünheide suggests Tesla expansion on a smaller area

There is movement in the discussion about Tesla’s expansion plans in Grünheide near Berlin. On Thursday, the municipality presented proposals for a new version of the corresponding development plan on its website. The amended plan still needs to be publicly displayed before community representatives can vote on it.

As the announcement from Mayor Arne Christiani shows, among other things, almost 50 hectares of forest are to be preserved instead of the more than 100 hectares that were originally intended for clearing to expand the site. In this way, the municipal administration is taking the wishes of the citizens into account, Christiani wrote. Three weeks ago, residents voted against the clearing of 100 hectares of forest and thus the expansion of Tesla’s area in a referendum.

When it comes to construction sites, Tesla focuses on logistics and warehousing

The electric car manufacturer made this change possible in the development plan, in which the company deferred space requirements, as it announced on Thursday evening. The reduction is possible because Tesla is focusing on the storage and logistics areas as well as production-related ancillary facilities necessary for climate-neutral logistics at the plant, it said. Service facilities and employee-relevant facilities would no longer be possible with the prioritization. Alternatives would have to be sought for this. According to previous plans, the electric car manufacturer wanted to build a freight station, warehouses and a daycare center on an area next to the factory premises. Tesla says it doesn’t want to need any more water for its expansion. The company is prepared to forego water volumes from the first expansion stage – this is being negotiated with the responsible Strausberg-Erkner water association (WSE), it was said. The WSE supplies 170,000 people in the association area and also supplies Tesla with up to 1.8 million cubic meters of water annually through a contract.