Tesla Invests $250M In Cell Manufacturing At Giga Berlin As It Eyes Model Y Production Ramp In H2

• Last month, Thierig said that Tesla is looking to scale production of Model Y at the plant, starting from the second half of the year.
• Giga Berlin primarily ships Model Y vehicles throughout Europe.
• Earlier this week, Tesla announced that it built the 750,000th vehicle at the factory.

American EV giant Tesla Inc (TSLA) said on Tuesday it will invest $250 million to scale battery cell production at its gigafactory in Berlin as it looks to boost car production at the plant during the second half of the year.

The announcement was made by André Thierig, a senior Tesla executive at the Giga Berlin facility, in a post on X.

The investment will expand the plant’s 4680 cylindrical cell production capacity from its previous target to 18 GWh per year. Tesla has been ramping up 4680 cell manufacturing at Giga Berlin as part of its strategy to reduce battery costs and increase vertical integration for its electric vehicles produced in Europe.

“Good news during challenging times for the German industry,” Thierig wrote, while adding that the planned expansion will create more than 1,500 new jobs.

Model Y Production Ramp

Tesla has faced occasional regulatory and political friction in Germany since opening Giga Berlin in 2022. The facility is Tesla’s sole one in Europe.

Last month, Thierig said Tesla is looking to scale production of the Model Y at the plant starting in the second half of the year. He also said the company will hire about 1,000 new employees to support the ramp-up and convert several hundred temporary employees to permanent positions.

Giga Berlin primarily ships Model Y vehicles throughout Europe, including countries like Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. It also manufactures vehicles to be shipped to India.

“We plan to keep growing volumes further, not just in Berlin, but across all our factories. Our biggest limiter continues to be our battery pack capacity, and we are actively working on resolving that,” Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said in April during Tesla’s first quarter earnings call, while also acknowledging a “demand surge” in Europe.

Earlier this week, the company announced that it built the 750,000th vehicle at the factory.

How Did Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TSLA stayed within the ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume rose from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ levels.

TSLA stock gained about 36% over the past 12 months.

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