# Business

Tesla wins court approval to clear forest and build Gigafactory in Germany

The factory will produce at least 500,000 electric cars each year and Tesla plans to have the plant up and running by the middle of next year.

SNS | New Delhi | February 22, 2020 1:30 pm

Tesla wins court approval to clear forest and build Gigafactory in Germany

The US Electric Vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc. received a final verdict from the higher administrative court of Berlin-Brandenburg on Thursday, to continue clearing the Grünheide forest near Berlin for its massive Gigafactory project.

The permission was granted to continue clearing 92 hectares of forest in preparation for its fourth factory, where it plans to build batteries, power trains and vehicles, starting with the Model Y, Engadget reported on Friday.

“Gigafactory” near Berlin on February 13, 2020, and is now racing against the clock to rehouse ants, birds and hibernating bats. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

The factory is set to employ over 10,000 people and Brandenburg, a state surrounding Berlin, hopes that Tesla’s arrival can generate thousands of high-quality jobs.

The factory will produce at least 500,000 electric cars each year and Tesla plans to have the plant up and running by the middle of next year.

Pine logs are piled up on the future site where US electric car giant Tesla is set to build its new car factory, in Gruenheide near Berlin. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Local environmental group Guene Liga Brandenburg, who had earlier raised concerns about the project, was upset that Tesla was allowed to begin clearing the land before the company received all of the necessary building permission, but the court rejected those arguments, stating that “the decision is final”.