Giga Berlin plans a second hall twice the size of the first, aiming for up to a million cars a year

Tesla's only car factory in Europe is preparing for a much bigger future. In Grünheide, near Berlin, the company plans a second production hall of about 536,000 square metres, more than twice the size of the existing building of roughly 219,000 square metres. The long-term goal for the site is up to one million vehicles a year.

What is planned

• The building: a new hall north of the current plant.
• Infrastructure: a dedicated electricity substation and expanded wastewater treatment, including an extra water loop that would also handle sanitary wastewater.
• Permits: Tesla plans to file a partial permit application for the northern building in December 2026. An earlier approval from October 2024 already found the expansion permissible in principle.
• Timing: construction would start in 2027 at the earliest, and the full build-out is expected to take about ten years.

Where Giga Berlin stands today

The factory builds the Model Y for Europe and also exports to markets such as Canada. Tesla aims to raise output to 7,500 cars a week this year and plans to hire up to 3,500 more people on top of its nearly 12,000 employees. Tesla also committed about $250 million in 2026 to expand battery production at the site.

The history behind it

Expansion in Grünheide has been sensitive. In February 2024, residents rejected the original plan, which involved clearing about 100 hectares of forest, in a non-binding vote. In May 2024 the local council approved a revised plan that roughly halved the clearing to about 47 hectares. Water use in a protected drinking-water area has been a recurring concern, which explains the attention to wastewater in the new plans.

Why it matters

On its third-quarter call, Tesla said its factories are running at record rates and Musk spoke of aiming for about five million vehicles a year around 2030. A much larger Berlin plant would be central to supplying Europe, where Tesla sales recovered in September after a weak 2025. It would also make Grünheide one of the largest car factories in Europe.

What to watch

The December permit filing, reactions from residents and environmental groups, and whether Tesla gives a new headcount or production schedule for the second hall.