For all its influence on the industry since its inception, Tesla was still considered for a long time a small player in the domain. No longer. With the Model Y about to arrive and the looming presentation of the company’s electric pickup at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the company will soon be in a position to offer consumers five very distinct models.
Better, sales are up, and so are the company’s shares on the market. The period of uncertainty regarding the firm’s survival seem solidly behind it now.
And so the company is looking ahead, with the latest reflection of that the announcement that it plans to build a fourth Gigafactory, this time in Berlin, Germany. It will join Tesla’s existing plants in Buffalo, NY, Reno, Nevada and Shanghai, China.
The new Gigfactory will be charged with producing battery packs for the Model Y as well as assembling components of vehicles for the European market. The first models to be produced will be the Model Y and then the Model 3. The company is particularly bullish about the former model’s prospects on the Old Continent. How bullish? Tesla thinks it could well sell more of the Model Y in Europe than of its Model S, X and 3 combined.
Construction of the plant is set to begin within 12-to-18 months, with it going online by the end of 2021.
