Frankfurt: Tesla has officially announced its intentions to significantly expand its factory near Berlin, with the ambitious goal of doubling its production capacity at the European plant to one million electric vehicles annually. The US company has filed an application for the expansion with the regional environment ministry of Brandenburg state in Germany.

The proposed plans will be made available for public consultation starting from Wednesday, and citizens will have a two-month window to raise any objections, according to the ministry. Tesla aims to not only double its vehicle production capacity to one million units per year but also increase battery storage production capacity at the Gruenheide gigafactory from 50 gigawatt hours to 100 gigawatt hours annually.

The expansion plans would necessitate building a new production hall and could result in a potential increase in the number of employees from the current approximately 10,000 to a possible 22,500, as stated by Tesla. However, no specific timeline for the project was provided.

Currently, the Gruenheide factory is producing about 5,000 electric cars each week, amounting to 260,000 vehicles per year. If the proposed plans are approved, the Gruenheide factory would become Germany's largest car factory, surpassing Volkswagen's Wolfsburg site, which has a production capacity of 800,000 vehicles annually, as reported by the Handelsblatt financial daily.

Tesla's journey to establish the Gruenheide factory was challenging, facing a two-year approval and construction process marred by administrative and legal obstacles, including concerns from local residents about the site's environmental impact, particularly regarding water usage. In response to these concerns, Tesla assured that the "contractually agreed quantities of fresh water will be sufficient" for the expanded factory as well.

While Germany's powerful IG Metall union welcomed Tesla's commitment to the Brandenburg region, it expressed concern about the disparity between the company's ambitious plans and recent job cuts at the factory. The union emphasized that improving working conditions at the Gruenheide plant should be a priority before any expansion takes place.