Tesla Inc hoping to start production in Berlin factory as early as October if the authorities play ball

The Tesla Inc gigafactory in Berlin should help ease a logistical nightmare when it finally opens, broker Wedbush said. The company’s founder and chief executive officer Elon Musk visited the factory today and said the company is hopeful that the first electric vehicle could roll off the production line by October or even sooner. "We're looking forward to hopefully getting the approval to make the first cars maybe in October if we are fortunate," Musk told reporters. Elon Musk visiting his Tesla site in Berlin today - still under construction. After criticizing the slow German bureaucracy he tells reporters: “We’re very happy to be here in Deutschland… (big laugh) #TSLA — Maria Tadeo (@mariatad) August 13, 2021 What the broker described as “bureaucratic hurdles” and “environmental issues” have delayed the commencement of operations at the factory and the opening cannot come soon enough, although the broker conceded red tape could yet cause further delays. “Right now many Model 3s/Ys produced in China are being exported to Europe in a logistical nightmare that is not sustainable and thus pushing back delivery times for customers throughout the region,” the broker said. The environmental agency in Brandenburg has yet to give the final approval for the factory to commence production. The factory has not been without controversy with UOKG, an association representing victims of communism in East Germany, saying that while it welcomed the building of the factory it wondered “why the state government of Brandenburg is helping the third-richest man in the world”. To add piquancy to the complaint, today marks the 60th anniversary of work beginning on the Berlin Wall. Aktive der Wassertafel BB protestierten heute am Brandenburger Tor gegen die im Bau befindliche Großfabrik des Automobilherstellers #Tesla in Brandenburg gegen die Gefährdung des Wassers und der ökologischen Ressourcen durch die Tesla-Gigafactory. Fotos: https://t.co/X97j9FW2Bk pic.twitter.com/jS0ZqNkT9u — Umbruch Bildarchiv (@UmbruchB) August 13, 2021 Wedbush, however, sees the Berlin plant and the Austin (Texas) manufacturing facility as key manufacturing hubs that will be key in the long-term Tesla electric vehicle (EV) story, “as we see down the road the company producing millions of EV vehicles per year vs. roughly 870k-900k this year”. “With the green tidal wave upon us, capacity and supply remain the biggest hurdles for Tesla vs. demand and now with Berlin and Austin slated to cut the red ribbon soon and ramping capacity this will be another notch on the belt for Musk & Co. to drive the broader EV vision globally,” the broker said, as it maintained its outperform rating. It has a US$1,000 price target for the stock.