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Tesla Giga Berlin’s 4680 cell facility to get a slice of Europe’s $3.5B battery aid
Tesla’s efforts to established a dedicated facility to produce its custom-designed 4680 cells in Gigafactory Berlin has received a notable boost, with the European Union recently paving the way for battery projects to receive about 2.9 billion euros ($3.5 billion) worth of state aid. Tesla’s 4680 battery cell plant, together with similar projects from companies like BMW, is expected to take a slice out of the $3.5 billion aid.
As noted in a Bloomberg report, the $3.5 billion state aid will go to 42 companies across a dozen countries. Beneficiaries include, apart from Tesla, companies like Fiat Chrysler owner Stellantis NV and startup Northvolt AB. With such a program in place, the European Commission expects the support to trigger over three times as much private investment, which should bring the total amount spent at about 12 billion euros ($14.59 billion).
Europe is currently pursuing a number of ambitious environmental goals under the European Green Deal, a massive economic program aimed at achieving climate neutrality by 2050. On the way towards this goal, the region is looking to reduce its reliance on battery producers from outside the region. As per the commission, the value of Europe’s battery market could reach 250 billion euros by 2025, meeting the demands from the auto industry.
European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic expressed his views on the battery aid in the following statement: “Europe will cement in this way its position as a global hot spot for battery investment. This pan-European project will help revolutionize the battery market,” he said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has big plans for Gigafactory Berlin’s dedicated battery cell facility. The plant, which would be producing the company’s custom-designed 4680 cells, is expected to have a capacity of about 100 GWh per year, though Musk has stated that the upcoming facility could be ramped to as much as 250 GWh per year in the future. “I’m pretty confident at that point it would be the largest battery-cell plant in the world,” Musk said.
Apart from Tesla, other automakers that would be establishing battery production facilities in the region include the PSA Group, which merged with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis. Volkswagen and BMW, as well as battery giants and Tesla suppliers Panasonic, LG Chem, and CATL have also expressed their intentions to set up operations in Europe.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
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Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
