Viral: Watch Elon Musk dance with joy as Tesla rolls out 1st EV from German Gigafactory

Tesla`s first European production hub in Germany has the biggest investment made in a German car making industry in the recent history.

A joyous Elon Musk burst into a sudden dance move as he delivered the first batch of Model Y electric cars made at the Tesla newest Gigafactory in Germany. The long delayed electric vehicle and battery manufacturing plant of Tesla better known as Gigafactory went live recently, rolling out the first batch of the company’s Model Y crossover.

The video shot inside the factory has been making rounds on the social media platforms and receiving applause from Netizens as Elon Musk, the eclectic CEO of Tesla Inc is usually very reserved in his public appearances. Although, he is very quirky on his Twitter handle.  

Loud music was played as 30 clients and their families got a first glimpse of their shining new vehicles through a glitzy, neon-lit Tesla branded tunnel, clapping and cheering as Tesla Chief Executive Musk danced and joked with fans. "This is a great day for the factory," Musk said, describing it as "another step in the direction of a sustainable future".

Musk said that Tesla is likely to launch a test version of its new "Full Self-Driving" software in Europe, possibly next year depending on regulatory approval. "It's quite difficult to do full self-driving in Europe," he told factory workers on Tuesday, saying much work needs to be done to handle tricky driving situations in Europe where roads vary a lot by country.

Musk had hoped to begin output from the factory eight months ago, but licensing delays and local concerns around the plant's environmental impact held up the process. Tesla was forced to service European orders from Shanghai while it awaited its German licence, adding to rising logistics costs at a time when it was struggling with industry-wide chip shortages and other supply chain disruptions.

The new owners received the Model Y Performance configuration, a vehicle costing 63,990 euros ($70,500) with a 514 km (320 miles) range, Tesla said, adding that new orders from the plant could be delivered from April. Tesla said that around 3,500 of the plant's expected 12,000 workers have been hired so far.

At full capacity, the plant will produce 500,000 cars a year, more than the 450,000 battery-electric vehicles that German rival Volkswagen sold globally in 2021. It will also eventually generate 50 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery power, surpassing all other plants in Germany. Tesla is expected to initially import batteries from China for its German-made Model Ys before it starts local battery production.

With inputs from Reuters

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