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Tesla Gigafactory Berlin critics’ latest legal efforts fail again
The Higher Administrative Court Berlin-Brandenburg (OVG) gave Tesla Gigafactory Berlin’s staunchest critics, the Green League Brandenburg and Nabu, their latest defeat. The update was confirmed by Thorsten Deppner, the lawyer for the environmental associations, on Thursday.
The latest efforts of the Green League and Nabu were against the higher court itself, with the groups complaining that their grievances against Tesla’s Germany-based facility were not given ample hearing. This complaint has now been rejected by the higher court, and the decision had been submitted to the German Press Agency.
With the Green League and Nabu’s latest defeat, Tesla could now continue its Model Y production line tests at Gigafactory Berlin. This should enable the company to tune its equipment adequately, allowing it to hit the ground running if or when it receives its final approval to operate the massive facility. Giga Berlin is expected to start with the production of the Model Y, after all, and that’s one of Tesla’s most popular cars to date.
The Green League and Nabu’s recent grievances against Giga Berlin started in June, after Tesla was granted an early approval to conduct limited tests of the facility’s equipment, including its next-generation paint shop. The two environmental organizations strongly opposed Tesla’s early approval over alleged safety concerns, which they brought to the administrative court of Frankfurt (Oder).
The administrative court effectively shot down the two organization’s efforts, and the Green League and Nabu responded by escalating an urgent motion to the higher court. The OVG, however, promptly rejected the groups’ urgent motion, dubbing the effort as inadmissible. It was this rejection that prompted the Green League and Nabu to complain about the higher court itself, stating that they were not given enough legal hearing and too little opportunity to present their arguments against Giga Berlin.
It remains to be seen if the Green League and Nabu would continue their crusade against Giga Berlin after this point. That being said, Tesla is still yet to receive its final approval for the Grünheide-based facility. Until the final approval is secured, Tesla would likely continue to receive the same stream of opposition from groups like the Green League and Nabu. This should not stop Tesla from getting Giga Berlin ready for Model Y production, however, as the facility is still expected to start operations sometime this year.
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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
