Tesla is continuing with plans to build its new factory in Germany and will build battery cells and battery packs at the site in Brandenburg, near Berlin, a spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday, after assurances it would not use too much water.
Tesla subsequently said on Thursday it would have to start a new approval process for battery production. Currently no timeline for this application has been communicated, the news agency noted.
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Reuters said the ministry for agriculture, environment, and climate protection in Brandenburg state was expected to formally approve the construction plans for the factory towards the end of the year once the relevant applications had been filed.
Environmentalists had expressed concerns about the plant but environmental authorities had received assurances on water usage, according to a local planning consultation panel.
A Tesla spokesman told Reuters the carmaker welcomed the assessment of the local water association that construction could proceed though some environmentalists were still opposed to the plan.
"Tesla is like a falling meteorite. Something is being pushed down on us from above," said Thomas Loeb, a member of the Ecological Democratic Party was quoted as saying.
