Tesla's first European factory needs more water to expand. Drought stands in its way

The Tesla factory in Gruenheide, about 20 miles southeast of Berlin in the state of Brandenburg, on Oct. 26. Tesla opened the factory — its first in Germany — earlier this year in an area characterized by its forests and small lakes. The company has already started clearing trees for an expansion, pending approval from regulators. (Jacobia Dahm for NPR)

BRANDENBURG, Germany — Deep in the pine woods just southeast of Berlin is a massive Tesla factory that opened earlier this year as Europe's first manufacturing outpost for Elon Musk's electric vehicle company.

The site's main facility has the same amount of space as 130 soccer fields, and it is humming with activity, churning out a few thousand vehicles a week.