Production at Tesla's new European plant near Berlin won't start until mid-March at the earliest. This was reported by the local broadcaster RBB.

Authorities are currently still evaluating how safe the operation of the facility will be, RBB said.

A spokesman for the state environment ministry said "we are not giving a specific date" but "we are in the final stages of the approval process."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he plans to visit the Grünheide plant near Berlin in mid-February.

Last year, Musk said he expected the Grünheide plant to be licensed to begin mass production of Model Y cars by December, but bureaucratic hurdles and a lawsuit over the plant's water use delayed final approval.

Tesla expects that the plant will produce up to 500,000 Model Y electric vehicles annually after construction is completed. Model Y electric vehicles sold in Europe now are imported from China.

bbabo.Net