The site of the Tesla battery plant for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin. — AP
BERLIN: Tesla has confirmed to the mayor of Gruenheide that its plans to operate the battery plant currently under construction in Germany are unchanged, mayor Arne Cristiani told Reuters today.
"Tesla put everything reported in the American newspaper into perspective. The plant is still being built," Cristiani said, referring to a report in the Wall Street Journal last week that Tesla was pausing its plans to make batteries in Germany.
Cristiani also denied reports by local newspaper rbb last week that he had struck the topic of an extension to Tesla's land to be used for logistics purposes from the local council agenda, saying it was never on the agenda.
The carmaker had applied for the extension in May and it was being discussed by the relevant community representatives, Cristiani said. Once these discussions were complete, the topic would come onto the agenda.
Tesla was not immediately available for comment.
Over in China, Tesla has completed a project to expand production capacity at its Shanghai plant today, according to a statement on a Shanghai government platform for companies' environmental information disclosures.
Tesla will test the production lines for the upgrade during from Sept 19 to Nov 30, the statement added.
Reuters previously reported Tesla had been ramping up its output to reach a target of producing around 2,200 units of Model 3 and Model Y cars per week at the Shanghai plant.
The USautomaker planned to invest up to 1.2 billion yuan (RM774mil) to expand production capacity at its Shanghai factory that would allow it to employ 4,000 more people at the site, state-backed Beijing Daily newspaper reported last November.
The project was originally expected to be finished in April, the Chinese media reported then.
