Musk says Tesla will begin production at its German Gigafactory by the end of the year

Elon Musk said during an open house at Tesla’s new Gigafactory near Berlin this weekend that the company is aiming to begin production of its Model Y cars there before the end of the year. And the CEO added he’s hoping the plant will be producing between 5,000 and 10,000 vehicles weekly by the end of 2022, Bloomberg reported. But Tesla is still waiting for final approval for the plant, as local authorities evaluate its environmental impact on the area.

Tesla held a “Giga-Fest” county fair style event in Gruenheide near the Gigafactory on Saturday, which included music, rides, and food trucks along with tours of the new plant for local residents. Tesla’s German Gigafactory is in the final phases of construction, after being delayed several times by complaints from environmental groups in the area concerned about the factory’s water use and disruption to wildlife. Musk said Saturday that Tesla would plant more trees than it cut down during construction and use as little water as possible at the factory.

Musk first announced in 2019 that Tesla would locate its European Gigafactory— which he’s referred to as a “machine that builds the machine”— in Germany. The company said it aims to produce as many as 500,000 cars a year and have 12,000 employees at the plant.