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Tesla’s plant in Grünheide, just outside Berlin, is set to begin making its own battery cells in the middle of next year. The target is mid-2027, and the cell in question is Tesla’s 4680-format cylindrical design.
What Tesla is building in Grünheide
The plan calls for scaling cell output to as much as 18 GWh per year. A gigawatt-hour measures how much energy a battery can store, so this is a measure of storage built, not electricity used.
To staff it, Tesla plans to hire more than 1,500 new employees for cell manufacturing.
The money is already moving. Cumulative investment in Grünheide’s battery cell production is approaching €1 billion.
The project will also use Tesla’s dry-electrode coating technology. Tesla’s bet is that this method makes battery manufacturing more efficient.
Tesla is not stopping at one building, either. The company aims to file for permits on a second large production hall in December 2026. That structure is expected to cover roughly 536,000 square meters.
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Why make batteries in Europe at all
Producing in Germany is not the budget option. Manufacturing costs in the region run higher than in Asia, where much of the world’s battery supply chain is concentrated.
The move is also about supply chain resilience and the ability to iterate on production faster. In Grünheide, the plan is to build cells, packs, and finished cars all side by side, with the Model Y as the headline vehicle.
The bigger picture for Tesla’s European operations
Grünheide has served as Tesla’s main manufacturing foothold in Europe. Adding cell production turns it from an assembly hub into something closer to a full-stack factory.
The December 2026 permit filing for a second hall signals that Tesla is thinking beyond a single expansion phase.
What this means
The risks are real. Higher regional production costs mean the economics depend heavily on whether dry-electrode coating delivers the efficiency gains Tesla is counting on. A new process, a new workforce of more than 1,500 people, and a new product line all launching at once is a lot of moving parts.
Mid-2027 is the target, and an 18 GWh annual capacity is where Tesla intends to scale over time.
The milestones to track are straightforward. First, whether cell production actually starts on schedule in mid-2027. Second, how quickly output climbs toward the 18 GWh ceiling. Third, whether the December 2026 permit filing happens as planned and how regulators respond.
