Overview
- Tesla opened the new European engineering and testing centre in Berlin-Köpenick on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, and placed it into partial operation with more than 250 engineers and technicians relocated from Tilburg and other labs.
- The site houses laboratories for materials, drivetrains and vehicle development and a large hall for safety tests of parts such as airbags and for battery-cell testing.
- Tesla says it invested €100 million in the converted factory and has applied for permission for a second expansion stage that would grow the workforce to about 500 employees, a request that is still pending.
- The new centre sits close to Tesla’s Grünheide vehicle plant and is intended to bring development and testing nearer to Europe’s only Tesla car factory as the company pursues higher production targets.
- Tesla frames the centre as a long-term bet on Germany that will create local skilled jobs and could speed engineering cycles and safety validation for electric vehicles sold across Europe.