"China Economic Weekly" Reporter Zhou Ruifeng Compiled
Tesla (Tesla) recently outlined the factors that affect the location selection of the next factory. Bloomberg said that after reading this list, it is easy to imagine how much Elon Musk (Elon Musk ) hopes to be able to do it again instead of setting up his first European factory in Germany.
(Screenshot source: Bloomberg)
An analyst at Baird, a financial services agency, retweeted some Tesla's site selection criteria, including "less red tape as possible." Tesla has experienced many such things in Greenhead, outside of Berlin .
It is reported that in Germany, due to the complex and cumbersome approval procedures, the process of obtaining a building permit may last as long as 4 years. Even a simple project like a mobile phone signal tower may take two years to get a license. According to the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), dealing with complex approval procedures can cost small and medium-sized hotel companies about 2.5% of annual sales and may threaten their survival.
In April 2021, Tesla complained that the process of the final approval of the local factory project was "annoying".
At the end of 2019, Tesla announced that it would build a factory in Germany, but legal challenges initiated by environmental protection organizations delayed the project by several months. Environmental groups are concerned that the plant will take up too much water and threaten local wildlife. Weeks after the factory went into production, Musk called Tesla's factories in Germany and Texas in the United States a "huge money furnace" and was losing billions of dollars.
Now, more troubles are coming to the surface. In September this year, Berlin Brandenburg Radio (RBB) reported that the local government of Greenhead has postponed the vote on Tesla's expansion plans indefinitely. With an expansion area of about 100 hectares, Tesla plans to use this land to add a cargo yard and a warehouse for storing parts.
However, the expansion plan will occupy some of the environmental protection areas, and any plan to cut down more trees will certainly be strongly opposed. As early as February 16, 2020, a local German court ordered Tesla to stop cutting trees in Greenhead's woodland. On February 20, the court finally agreed to Tesla to continue cutting down trees. But Tesla is also under pressure from environmental organizations to complete the project before birds start building nests.
Greenhead Mayor Arne Christiani said: "It is necessary for Tesla to clarify the possibility of the city's overall development to the relevant departments. It is not clear when this issue will be resolved."
Bloomberg said that Germany's bureaucracy may be expensive in terms of Tesla's investment in Greenhead. At the end of 2021, the company decided to give up its 1.14 billion euro state subsidy and choose to produce a new battery in Texas, USA. In September this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla will suspend its plans to produce batteries in Germany and has discussed shipping battery manufacturing equipment to the United States.
However, Joerg Steinbach, the economy minister of Brandenburg, Germany, recently said that he has received Tesla's assurance and everything is going well. Steinbach said: "Tesla's commitment to Glenhead remains unchanged, especially the expansion plan for automobile production. The battery factory will be completed, and the adjustment and priority of internal processes are still to be determined, but the factory is about to be completed."
It is reported that Tesla recently held an open day event at a conference center in Greenhead. The company's employees introduced Tesla's plans for logistics, recruitment and expansion to the guests, and also talked about sensitive issues such as water use.
Tesla employees said that due to supply chain obstacles, factory shutdowns and soaring logistics costs due to supply chain obstacles, the new crown pneumonia epidemic, there is no way to achieve on-time production (Editor's note: The main feature of on-time production is zero inventory, and the supply of users as much as they need is to reduce costs and improve production efficiency). Because of this, Tesla is expanding its factory, building an additional warehouse to store more parts, and a multi-track cargo yard to transfer the cargo business from trucks to trains.
Tesla has taken some unconventional measures before to get rid of production difficulties. It is impressive in 2018, when Tesla was working on mass production of Model 3. To increase production, Tesla built an assembly line under a huge outdoor tent.
Bloomberg said that Germany has always been known for its complex approval procedures and strong trade unions, and it is difficult to solve problems in an unconventional way. In August 2022, Musk said at Tesla's annual meeting that there are still "many problems" that need to be solved in Austin and Glenhead. Although it is difficult to advance business in both places, Tesla is obviously more interested in Texas.
compiled from Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal
First instance: Zheng Yangbo Second instance: Wang Xinjing Third instance: Zhou Qi
