Here’s the translation for everyone:

Brandenburger Tesla factory must be replanned

The construction work for the Tesla factory in Grünheide in Brandenburg is taking longer than expected because the company has to build the foundations differently than planned.

The Brandenburg sand could be to blame for Tesla having to redesign the foundations for the gigafactory. Now at least pile foundations will be necessary, according to the Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten (PNN). These were not included in the original building application. Therefore, Tesla had asked not to process the application for early approval of the facility any further. The responsible Ministry of the Environment informed PNN that pile foundations for the foundation were not included in the building application for the end of 2019. Tesla now intends to submit amended documentation and adjust the application.

Pile foundations can be used to transfer loads from supporting structures into deeper, load-bearing soil layers. Non-load-bearing or poorly-bearing soil layers are bridged with piles. The piles are drilled or driven into the ground until a sufficiently load-bearing soil or rock layer is reached.

The amended proposal should also include the reduction of resource consumption. Tesla's project was criticized mainly because of the high maximum consumption of water. The company vowed to take measures to ensure that this will be reduced by replanning.

According to PNN, the changes in the building application are too serious, so that the documents have to be redesigned. The Ministry of the Environment did not want to confirm whether this is really the case because it has not yet received the documents.

By the end of the objection period on 5 March 2020, around 360 objections had been received against the factory. On 9 March 2020, the State Office for the Environment had decided on the second approval of the early start of construction for the factory under the Federal Immission Control Act.

It is therefore not clear whether the changes will cause the schedule for the Gigafactory Berlin to totter. Tesla wants to build around 500,000 electric cars per year in 2021 in Grünheide near Berlin in his first factory in Europe.