Earlier this week German media reported that Tesla will not likely receive production approvals until mid-march at the earliest. While the approvals continue to delay the question about German Beaaurocratic red tape on approvals being talked about by industry experts. Director of the Center of Automotive Research, Ferdinand Dudenhöffer gave an interview to Handelsblatt talking about how things work in Germany.
Many of the few things like empty tanks, bats in trees, and water pumping approvals have stopped Tesla’s progress in Germany. As Tesla is working to launch its first electric vehicle manufacturing in Europe, the challenges bought some attention to Germany’s Beaurocratic ways. The construction is almost finished since October 2021 and the approvals are yet to be processed. While Tesla worked along the way since 2020 to address the environmental group protests and bring forward many environmentally-friendly changes to the factory. The approvals still continue to delay due to various reasons.
Dudenhöffer stated, “Tesla shows the world how we stand in our own way.” He adds that Tesla should have traded more carefully during the approval of a battery production facility and been smarter regarding document submissions. But the industry expert believes that German red tape has mainly told a story of how hard it is to get things started if you are planning to open a business in the country. “But such hurricanes of resistance show how little sustainable Germany is,” he said in the interview.
Permissions till mid-March
Over two years of coverage about the updates of Giga Berlin, the project started in 2020, then in 2021 October, there was a Giga fest celebrating the construction of the factory. Earlier this week, German media reported that Tesla would likely not receive permission to begin production and deliveries until mid-March “at the earliest.” It is a far cry from the Summer 2021 start dates that many close to the project anticipated.
Keeping aside Tesla’s progress the idea of Germany being a potential leader in the automotive industry is being looked into. Over the past ten years, many things changed in the German automotive industry compared to the years before the ten years. However, now more changes are happening in the industry. Automotive companies are not just making cars, but also technology. Which would mean more approvals for the companies. Leading to some pushbacks and delays as a company is being established in the region. As companies face pushback, they could be thinking of other better options to set up a plant in Europe.
