Hyperdrive

Tesla Begins Clearing German Forest to Expand Electric-Car Plant

  • Automaker wants to increase storage, logistics capacity
  • Additions require approvals from environmental authorities

Tesla vehicles in a lot at the Tesla Inc. Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany.

Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg
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Tesla Inc. began clearing a German forest late on Friday to expand its electric-car factory near Berlin, a key piece of the company’s growth plans for Europe.

The automaker is working on an application to increase its storage and logistics capacity at its site in Gruenheide, a spokesman said early Saturday, confirming a report by the Maerkische Onlinezeitung. Tesla already started the process of clearing some 70 hectares (173 acres) of trees necessary for the expansion, the spokesman said.