Elon Musk hosts bash at Tesla’s factory in Germany

Thousands of visitors flocked to the new factory on the outskirts of the German capital as CEO Musk hosted the Giga Berlin-Brandenburg fun party

He hopes in coming weeks to get the green light to start production at the site, which at its peak will produce 500,000 e-vehicles a year

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Visitors queue up during an open day at the Tesla construction site in Gruenheide, Germany, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:05pm, 9 Oct 2021Updated: 9:18pm, 9 Oct 2021

Flashing lights, booming speakers, sprawling stages and a Ferris wheel have transformed Tesla’s car factory near Berlin into a county fair for a one-day festival on Saturday to be hosted by CEO Elon Musk.

The festival, expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors, with locals from Brandenburg state given priority, started at 10am local time but will go on late into the night, with bands and DJs due to “keep the party going,” the official event website said.

“Giga Berlin-Brandenburg fun party today!” Musk tweeted in German soon after it began, and then joked with a Twitter follower who replied to correct his German.

Musk hopes in coming weeks to get the green light to start production at the site, which at its peak will produce 500,000 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) a year – more than double Germany’s BEV production in 2020.

The company has also submitted plans to invest 5 billion euros (US$5.8 billion) in a battery plant with 50 GWh capacity next to the site, outstripping Volkswagen’s planned 40GWh capacity site in Salzgitter.

While Tesla has repeatedly said the site will bring Germany significantly closer to achieving its e-mobility goals, some locals and environmental groups are unhappy with the Tesla CEO’s disruptive approach which they say flies in the face of German business culture.

Visitors look at Tesla cars at the factory’s construction site near Berlin. Photo: AFP