Germany's Scholz, Musk to inaugurate Tesla's Berlin factory
The construction site of the future Tesla Gigafactory is seen in Gruenheide near Berlin, Germany, September 19, 2020. (Reuters Photo)


German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Tesla chief executive and celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk are scheduled to attend the opening of the company’s first production site in Europe next week, a so-called gigafactory outside Berlin.

Scholz is to visit the Tesla site in Grünheide, in the state of Brandenburg which surrounds the capital, on Tuesday morning and give a speech, deputy government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said in Berlin.

However, she cautioned that the plan could change at the last minute given the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Musk is also expected at the plant on Tuesday, where he is scheduled to ceremoniously hand over the first cars to customers.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Brandenburg state Premier Dietmar Woidke are also to attend the launch.

Musk originally planned for the first cars to roll off the assembly line last summer. However, the approval process was delayed, partly because Tesla added a battery factory to the building application.

On March 4, the state of Brandenburg approved the project. Tesla had already completed construction of the factory by that point at its own risk.