If Tesla builds a second factory at Giga Berlin, "we won't be building another Model Y factory," plant manager Andre Thierig said at the Automobilwoche Congress in Berlin, according to a translated report from Automobilwoche cited by Not a Tesla App.
Thierig did not say what that factory would build, and no decision has been made on a second factory or a new product yet, the site reported. That is the news from the congress: a limit on what a second hall would not be, not a product reveal and not an approved building permit.
Many fans have hoped for a cheaper, compact Tesla for Europe, but the Model 2 was reportedly shelved in early 2024 as Tesla shifted its focus to robotaxis. Instead, Tesla launched cheaper Standard versions of the Model 3 and Model Y, Not a Tesla App noted. A new Model 2 or Model Q could still be in the works, the site said, but the more likely candidate is the Cybercab. Musk said earlier this year that it is the "most likely next major product" for Giga Berlin, with Optimus possibly following, and he recently said he hopes to bring the Cybercab to Europe soon. Tesla is also taking the Cybercab on a tour of Europe right now, with four stops in Germany, including Berlin.
Tesla has finished clearing land for the expansion and plans to submit a building application in 2026, as part of a broader plan to expand Giga Berlin and eventually take its output to 1 million vehicles per year, the report said. With the building application due before the end of the year, more detail may follow, but it has not been filed in the account Not a Tesla App described.
The existing plant is still growing. "We are probably the only ones in Germany who are currently growing," Thierig said, according to the translated report. Tesla just hired 2,000 new workers in Grunheide and is ramping Model Y production to 7,500 vehicles per week, with a car coming off the line every 45 seconds across 15 shifts a week. That gets the plant closer to its maximum capacity of 375,000 vehicles a year. Earlier this year, Tesla announced a production ramp and 1,000 new hires, followed by the 7,500-per-week target and another 1,000 hires. Giga Berlin celebrated building its 750,000th vehicle this year, Not a Tesla App reported.
Battery cell production is a separate, already reported piece of the same campus plan. Giga Berlin already makes electrodes, which are shipped to Texas to be turned into cells and sent back. Full cell production in Grunheide is set to begin by mid-2027, which would make it the first European plant to build everything from battery cells to finished cars at one site. Thierig also said Tesla will not budge on its 38-hour work week, calling a cut to 35 hours "a red line for us," according to the translated report.
Until Tesla names a product and files the application, the second factory remains a possibility, not a schedule. The hard facts in this report are Thierig's statement that it would not be another Model Y plant, the lack of a decision, the hiring and weekly output figures, the 38-hour workweek stand, and a 2026 building-application target.