You may have read recent articles suggesting that Tesla is dealing with demand issues. Moreover, an employee at Tesla's new factory in Germany reported various labor issues, such as a lack of workers. However, despite the negative news, it appears as though the US EV maker is still expanding production and may be moving to three shifts.
Tesla hit a milestone in October, announcing that Giga Berlin had the capacity to produce 2,000 Model Y vehicles per week. Teslarati notes that this is essentially a run rate that would exceed 100,000 models produced annually. However, Tesla's goal at the factory is much higher. The company hopes to soon crank out 5,000 copies per week.
Based on information from a recent report published by Märkische Oderzeitung (MOZ), Tesla is already getting the factory ready for the upcoming move to three shifts. In fact, the new third shift could begin as soon as this Friday, December 16, 2022.
According to the report, the shifts will begin every eight hours starting at 6 AM local time, with the second shift reporting at 2 PM and the new third shift coming in at 10 PM. As you can see, there could be constant work at the factory in Germany once the plan is underway.
While it has been reported that Tesla is facing demand issues, this doesn't seem to be the case in Germany. The automaker has been exporting vehicles to Europe from China, and people still have long wait times. It seems it will be some time before Tesla can produce enough Model Y crossovers in Germany to satisfy the demand across Europe.
Reports also suggest that Tesla has been struggling to hire and retain workers at the new German factory. However, it has been searching for workers outside the country, with many reportedly coming over from neighboring Poland. The factory appears to have about 7,500 employees thus far, with a goal of 12,000 in total.
Sources say that Tesla is currently able to produce about 3,000 Model Y vehicles per week in Germany with just two shifts. At least one German publication estimates that the EV maker could increase the capability to some 4,500 models per week once the third shift signs on. If production continues into the weekends and holidays, 5,000 may actually be possible.
