One of the latest drone flyovers of the Tesla Giga Berlin plant in Grünheide near Berlin, Germany indicate that Tesla has already produced a substantial number of pre-production Model Y.
Tobias Lindh reports that more than 100 units were seen in the parking lot on January 18.
We don't know how many cars Tesla intends to produce before enough is enough, but it is allowed to produce 2,000 Model Y bodies (up from 250 previously), which potentially means also 2,000 fully assembled pre-production cars.
For reference, recently we saw about 10 Tesla Model Y at the Tesla Giga Austin plant, which means that the two new sites are pretty close in terms of advancement of launching series production.
Some of those cars will be sent for tests in cold or hot weather, to validate charging capabilities/compatibility in Europe, for high mileage tests, or simply crash tests.
Tesla still awaits the final permit for the plant and, according to one of the latest reports, the series production could start within several weeks with the Performance version of the Model Y. Customer deliveries are expected in March.
If the manufacturer launches the Made-in-Germany (MIG) cars with the 2170-type cylindrical cell battery, it actually should not differ much compared to the ones produced in California or China.
Some smaller changes are still expected, including the introduction of new colors, and some parts from local suppliers. An interesting thing will be the build quality/fit and finish of the cars from the new factory.
We guess that it will take some time until the switch to a new battery system with 4680-type cylindrical cells and a structural battery. It might first be implemented in Giga Austin.
