Tesla is committing $250m to its Berlin-Brandenburg gigafactory in Germany, with the aim of expanding battery cell production and advancing towards a target of one million vehicles manufactured at the site.
The facility, which began operations in March 2022, currently produces hundreds of thousands of Model Y vehicles annually alongside millions of battery cells, and has recently surpassed the 750,000-vehicle production milestone.
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Factory lead Andre Thierig disclosed the investment via post on X.
“Today, we announced a $ 250m investment for our Giga Berlin Cell factory. This will enable 18GWh of annual 4680 cell production and create more than 1500 new jobs,” Thierig’s post on 12 May read.
A day earlier, while reposting a post about 750,000 cars being built at Giga Berlin, Thierig said: “Getting closer to the first million cars produced at Giga Berlin! We are ramping production shortly to get us there as quickly as humanly possible!”
The news follows Tesla’s first quarter 2026 results, which showed total revenue climbing 16% year-on-year to $22.38bn, while net income attributable to common stockholders rose 17% to $477m.
Thierig described the investment as a “good news during challenging times for the German industry” as the wider domestic manufacturing environment remains under pressure.
Volkswagen Group reported a 14.3% decline in first-quarter operating profit, attributed to US tariffs and heightened competition in China.
The group also acknowledged that existing cost-cutting measures have not gone far enough.
Porsche, meanwhile, confirmed it would wind down three subsidiaries – Cellforce Group, Porsche eBike Performance, and Cetitec – with approximately 500 job losses as it refocuses on its principal business activities.
The investment also arrives against a backdrop of accelerating electric vehicle uptake across Europe.
Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) shows battery-electric vehicles accounted for 19.4% of EU market share in the first quarter of 2026, up from 15.2% in the same period a year earlier, with 546,937 new registrations recorded.
Germany specifically saw battery-electric registrations grow 41.3% during the quarter.
Hybrid-electric models remain the most popular powertrain choice among EU consumers, representing 38.6% of the market in Q1 2026.
The combined share of petrol and diesel vehicles declined to 30.3%, compared with 38.2% a year earlier.
