Elon Musk gestures during a visit at the Tesla Gigafactory plant in Grünheide near Berlin, eastern Germany.
Patrick Pleul / POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is hoping the first vehicles will roll off the production line of the delayed Tesla Gigafactory in Germany in October.
Speaking on a tour of the plant in Grünheide, near Berlin on Friday, the electric-vehicle entrepreneur said: “We’re looking forward to hopefully getting the approval to make the first cars maybe in October if we are fortunate,” Reuters reported
He blamed German red tape for the delays, saying: “Sometimes one has the impression that inventing something new is technologically easier than dismantling bureaucracy in Germany.”
The German factory hasn’t been the only challenge for Musk. Just a day before, he called out two chip makers as “problematic” because of issues with the supply of key components used in the company’s electric vehicles.
The car boss took to Twitter to point the finger at two of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers—Japan’s Renesas and Germany’s Bosch.
The global shortage of chips—the brains used to power most of the world’s electronic devices—continues to hurt manufacturing giants as demand outstrips supply. The emergence of new technologies that require heavy chip usage, such as 5G, is the cause, and the Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t helped, affecting transport systems.
Musk had tweeted: “Tesla makes cars for export in first half of quarter and for local market in second half. As publicly disclosed, we are operating under extreme supply-chain limitations regarding certain ‘standard’ automotive chips. Most problematic by far are Renesas & Bosch.”
He was replying to Ark Investment Management Chief Executive Cathie Wood.
Back in April, Musk used a quarterly earnings call to warn of “some of the most difficult supply-chain challenges that we’ve ever experienced in the life of Tesla.”
But there is some good news for Tesla investors, as Bosch has had more luck opening factories in Germany. A new $1.2 billion plant that opened in Dresden in June is expected to start making automotive chips by next month.
Write to Rupert Steiner at [email protected]
