Tesla has been up against many concerns from environmentalists since it broke ground in Germany. One of the most notable issues has been fear of high water consumption and potential contamination. Based on details from Tesla's recent expansion application, the EV maker reportedly aims to produce one million EVs per year at Giga Berlin without consuming additional fresh water.
As we read and report about Tesla's plans to build a new factory in Mexico in record time – all while actively scouting locations for another new factory to build soon – the US EV maker is already planning to expand in Germany. Tesla is constantly building and ramping up new factories while upgrading and expanding existing infrastructure.
According to Teslarati, Tesla will be able to produce one million electric cars per year at its Germany factory using the same water consumption it calculated in its earlier plans. The new information comes from an application Tesla reportedly submitted to Brandenburg this week.
Per the report, the application reportedly provides an initial look at upcoming upgrades and expansion plans for Giga Berlin. If the US automaker is able to carry out its plans as intended, it may be able to double the annual production capacity at the factory without alarming environmentalists over water-use concerns.
While Giga Berlin hasn't yet achieved its anticipated run rate of 500,000 EVs per year, it's reportedly planning on aiming for one million units annually. Reports suggest that Tesla's preliminary application states it has “optimized planning and production processes in such a way that the amounts of fresh water previously used as a basis and contractually agreed are also sufficient for this expansion.”
This is not to say that doubling the number of vehicles produced annually won't automatically increase the water necessary. However, it appears Tesla aims to treat the wastewater itself and then reuse it. For this reason, it won't have to obtain more fresh water. This makes sense since we have already read and shared other reports about Tesla's wastewater treatment operations.
It has already been made clear on a number of occasions that the area surrounding Giga Berlin may not have enough fresh water to sustain Tesla's factory and potential expansion. However, per Teslarati, CEO Elon Musk has worked to make it clear to local residents, activists, and government officials that the automaker will do everything in its power to conserve water.
