The US electric car manufacturer Tesla wants to expand the site of its car factory in Grünheide near Berlin to include a freight depot and additional logistics areas. According to the municipality of Grünheide, the company submitted an application to initiate a development plan procedure.

“This is an area that is not yet covered by a development plan,” said Mayor Arne Christiani (independent) on Thursday when asked. He spoke of more than 100 hectares. It’s not about expanding the car factory. Tesla wants to build a freight station, logistics areas and parking spaces there. Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) reported on this on Wednesday.

The mayor told the broadcaster that the new area is in the immediate vicinity of the current 300-hectare site. According to him, a new development plan is required for the new area. The main committee of the municipality will discuss this on June 2nd.

If he makes a recommendation, the municipal council could decide on June 23. According to Christiani, the process for the development plan for the car factory took almost a year. In an initial expansion phase, Tesla wants to roll off the assembly line around 500,000 vehicles a year and employ around 12,000 people.

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Production is only ramped up gradually. The battery factory planned by company boss Elon Musk is still under construction. The state of Brandenburg had approved the car and battery factory in March, after which official production began.