Tesla's only European car factory may be about to get much bigger. According to Berlin-Brandenburg public broadcaster rbb, Tesla plans a second production hall just north of the existing Gigafactory in Grünheide, outside Berlin, and the numbers are large. rbb says the new building would cover about 536,000 square meters, more than twice the size of today's main hall, which it puts at about 219,000 square meters. Over the long run, Grünheide would be able to build up to 1 million vehicles a year. The Lausitzer Rundschau and MOZ followed up on Wednesday, Oct. 14, reporting that Tesla is preparing to build the new hall.
What Tesla has actually said
Tesla didn't confirm the size of the hall or a production figure. Instead it gave rbb a statement about the process. In our translation: in 2023, Tesla's application for a partial permit already laid out the phased expansion of Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg and its environmental impact; the permit issued on Oct. 15, 2024 established that the plan can be approved in principle; and the planned partial-permit application for the "northern production building" builds on that and would allow the building to go up once it's approved.
rbb's timeline, based on its own information: Tesla plans to file the new applications with permitting authorities in December, construction could start in 2027, and the whole expansion is planned to take about ten years. So this is not a 2027 capacity story.
Water, power and jobs
Water has been the most sensitive issue in Grünheide since the start, because part of the site sits in a drinking-water protection area. rbb says Tesla now plans an extra water loop with its own new wastewater treatment, which would eventually treat sanitary wastewater too. The new hall and extra staff would use more water overall, but the on-site treatment means no extra sanitary wastewater would leave the plant. The package also includes Tesla's own electrical substation. Tesla invited local mayors and utility representatives to the plant to explain the plans.
Tesla hasn't said how many people the expansion would employ. rbb notes that earlier plans mentioned up to 42,000 workers on the site in the long term. For comparison, Tesla's German subsidiary had about 11,000 workers, including temps, at the end of 2025, rbb reported in July.
What it means for investors
The 1 million figure isn't new. Tesla applied to double Grünheide's capacity from 500,000 to 1 million cars a year in 2023, and Die Zeit reported in October 2024 that the state's first partial permit came while the plant was still well short of the 500,000 mark. What's new is a concrete building, a size and a filing date. Tesla's nearer-term goal is smaller: rbb reported in July that Tesla is aiming for up to 7,500 vehicles a week at Grünheide, about 375,000 a year, plus more battery cell production and 3,500 new jobs.
A building permit isn't a commitment to spend, and Tesla has paced Berlin's growth to demand before. It's still a sign that Tesla expects European sales to keep recovering after two weak years. Investors may hear more on the Q3 earnings call on Wednesday, Oct. 21.