Tesla Giga Berlin will have a battery cell production facility, and the question comes down to when. Appropriate enough, when the company finds the help it needs to get the cell production part of the facility up and running, Tesla will start making batteries. The real deficiency is the fact that the required talent is not available, and high employee turnover rates could cause delays in the company’s plans to produce cells in Germany.
Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Engineering Drew Baglino what problems Tesla may encounter on his journey to large-scale cell production at the future plant. German.
“Will there be consistency of battery capacity with the amount of assembly volume you expect to get? And if not, could you supply your battery requirements outside of Europe? Or would it have to import batteries from outside Europe to guarantee production in Berlin, “Houchois asked the two Tesla executives during the second-quarter earnings call for 2020.
Musk confirmed that Giga Berlin would have cell fabrication that would handle the production load leaving the facility, but Drew Baglino elaborated on what the delays could be. Tip: It has to do with the lack of available talent.
Baglino added mostly to Musk’s comment, confirming that a cell production facility would be in Berlin eventually. Still, it depends on when the company can assemble enough battery manufacturing equipment in the new Gigafactory.
“As with all areas of the cell, the supply chain, manufacturing materials, design, we are solving this problem and we are treating it like any other problem that we have solved. We will solve this problem, talented people will join us as we solve this problem, ”said Baglino.
Once the workers get there, they must stay. They cannot be in “the garden,” as Musk calls it.
“My biggest concern about getting talented people is probably Berlin because job mobility in Europe is not so low. I would recommend changing this. As if someone wanted to leave and join another company, ”said Musk. “Sometimes they have to spend six months on vacation in the garden. It’s called a garden, basically hanging out in the garden, and so it’s not a good use of people’s time. I mean, if they want us to hang out in the garden, that’s fine, but they shouldn’t have to. “
Interestingly, workers who leave Tesla to join other companies is a relevant topic. Tesla has filed multiple lawsuits, the most recent against electric car maker Rivian, which accused the company of stealing employees. Tesla also has an open case with China-based Xpeng.
But either way, Tesla needs the workforce, and manufacturing jobs for Giga Berlin are highly available, according to the company’s Career page.
Earlier in the call, Musk and Baglino discussed the need for manufacturing workers who would be willing to help the company improve production lines.
Musk has long stated that Tesla is looking for brilliant minds to help revolutionize the way the company makes vehicles. The CEO has said that too many smart people end up studying medicine or law, and that improvements in manufacturing are also needed.
The shortage of battery cells inhibited Tesla from starting projects elsewhere. One of those projects was the Tesla Semi, which Elon Musk indicated would start a “volume production” boost later this year.
The problem with producing the Semi beforehand was the shortage of battery cells. But now that the company has openly committed to building the commercial truck in Giga Texas, there is an indication that battery shortage is no longer an issue.
The cells are there, but the workers are not. Tesla will eventually build these cells in Germany. Still, there must be a team to take care of the workload, especially considering that half a million vehicles a year will leave the production lines as of July 2021.
