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Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

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291–300 of 449 posts

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#291

It is great news for Berlin (and Brandenburg) as it will bring (big) money and attract talent. It might even attract people from Poland which is only an hour drive away and has a large pool of very talented and experienced engineers. So far besides maybe Siemens there wasn't too much industry here, which is more present in the south of the country. Being outside of the city center it won't contribute too much to gent…

Brandenburg is one of the poorest regions in Germany. Berlin as a city brings negative GDP to country. I think they can just get it for (relatively) cheap there and that would be the main reason.

Brandenburg and Berlin are fundamentally unrelated, they’re two completely distinct, and politically and (largely) economically independent regions. While Berlin is geographically within Brandenburg, they couldn’t be more different, and the geography is mostly of historical relevance when it comes to Berlin’s current economic position.

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I just don't understand why Tesla is slow in expanding to other countries Tesla is expanding as fast as they can. After huge struggles they finally got their Fremont plant working right. Then they immediately set to work building a plant in China, and got done remarkably fast. Now they are going to build a plant in Europe. Probably next will come India, and then maybe Latin America or the Middle East, and there I su…

Israel is not a good location for a Middle East factory. Most countries in the region will not trade with it, and even those that will, like Jordan and Egypt, do not have free trade or good transportation links with the country.

no one said building Teslas in Israel... They don't sell here at all.

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#293

Watching a SV company suddenly have to deal with German workers' rights (think: unions, significant protection from being fired without cause, rights to paid holiday and enforced maternity leave, even workers' councils which have representation at a management level) is going to be hilarious.

I'm all for some cultural drama, but I'd wager that they have done basic due diligence and they are aware of these factors :)

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EU regulations prohibit the turning angle of the wheel unlike the U.S. You simply can’t navigate on autopilot in the same way. Also the EU makes money from the auto companies in their jurisdiction and they don’t want a U.S auto company competing with them. Now that Tesla opens a factory in Germany “massages” things. The customs tax is in regards to countries/jurisdictions other than the ones with the Tesla factories.…

>"EU regulations prohibit the turning angle of the wheel unlike the U.S. You simply can’t navigate on autopilot in the same way." I've never heard anyone complaining that their car is too safe. How many people have been killed in autopilot-related accidents in Europe vs the US? >"Also the EU makes money from the auto companies in their jurisdiction and they don’t want a U.S auto company competing with them." Carmaker…

I wouldn't say limiting the wheel's sharp turn when you need it to do a sharp turn is safe.

No one said that Europe is doing something that the U.S wouldn't do in return. Just stating the facts as they are.

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#295

It is great news for Berlin (and Brandenburg) as it will bring (big) money and attract talent. It might even attract people from Poland which is only an hour drive away and has a large pool of very talented and experienced engineers. So far besides maybe Siemens there wasn't too much industry here, which is more present in the south of the country. Being outside of the city center it won't contribute too much to gent…

It's definitely positive, although I'm also slightly disappointed. I think the original plan was to build it near Dresden. That would have been quite a signal, but on the other hand it might be good for it to be successful to have it connected with the metropolitan region Berlin/Brandenburg.

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#296
post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s also a small market: 9 million inhabitants.

Tesla is a small scale producer, so their market sizes can be quite small (Norway's population is 5 million and a key market). What drives the market is desire, money and charging. It seems Israel has the first two but hasn't got a good charging infrastructure yet. Once it does, combined with increased incentives for electric cars, I imagine it'll be a good market for them.

What charging infrastructure? You would literally need two or three charging spots for the whole country.

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#297
post #272

It is great news for Berlin (and Brandenburg) as it will bring (big) money and attract talent. It might even attract people from Poland which is only an hour drive away and has a large pool of very talented and experienced engineers. So far besides maybe Siemens there wasn't too much industry here, which is more present in the south of the country. Being outside of the city center it won't contribute too much to gent…

No, this is bad news; it's a smaller version of the economic bomb/distortion of creating a google campus somewhere. This will be bad for everything from housing up to the general health of startup culture in Berlin. Desperate move by the economically starved Brandenburg. (and of course they won't suffer the consequences)

So it would be better for Berlin if this factory was in another city? Taking that to its logical conclusion, it would be better for Germany to not have this factory in the country?

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#298
post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this is bad news; it's a smaller version of the economic bomb/distortion of creating a google campus somewhere. This will be bad for everything from housing up to the general health of startup culture in Berlin. Desperate move by the economically starved Brandenburg. (and of course they won't suffer the consequences)

The startup culture in Berlin is mediocre at best. I think bringing in proper high tech will be very valuable

What do you see it lacking? Berlin already has a lot. Just many of the "startup scene" aren't really aware of stuff like:

Mozilla and HPI (Oracle JVM research) doing cutting edge work.

Ableton and Native Instruments as world leaders in niche but influential software.

Car2Go and Coup with major financial backing from Mercedes and Bosch.

Tons of small seed-stage companies funded by the great smaller VCs here. ECB central bank policy pushes a lot of money into startup investment.

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#299

Watching a SV company suddenly have to deal with German workers' rights (think: unions, significant protection from being fired without cause, rights to paid holiday and enforced maternity leave, even workers' councils which have representation at a management level) is going to be hilarious.

Maybe this is part of the reason why he does it.

"Look he made it work in Germany with their "strict" workers rights. It can't be so bad"

Also going to Germany, right in the face of the traditional car industry is a great show off too.

Re: Tesla’s European gigafactory will be built in Berlin

#300

Watching a SV company suddenly have to deal with German workers' rights (think: unions, significant protection from being fired without cause, rights to paid holiday and enforced maternity leave, even workers' councils which have representation at a management level) is going to be hilarious.

I'm all for some cultural drama, but I'd wager that they have done basic due diligence and they are aware of these factors :)

I would have thought the same about Walmart, and yet: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/jul/28/retail.mone...
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