US carmaker Tesla has produced several electric cars for testing purposes at its factory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, it announced on Monday.
Nothing produced in the process will be sold. The official test run at the car factory has not yet begun.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk hopes that the first cars will roll off the assembly line before then end of this year. Specialist magazine Automobilwoche (Automobile Weekly) estimates that an initial 1,000 units per week are to be produced at the plant, with production ramping up in the middle of the year. Tesla has not commented on these figures.
In the first stage of expansion, up to 500,000 cars per year are planned. The factory is expected to employ about 12,000. However, final approval for the complex has yet to be granted by the state of Brandenburg.
Conservationists and residents fear the development will have negative consequences for the environment, citing high levels of water consumption as a particular concern - something Tesla has denied.
Musk also wants to build a large battery factory in the area.
