Tesla chief Elon Musk suggested in February that he wanted to fill the company’s new Gigafactory in Berlin with graffiti art.
Many thought he was joking, but this week the billionaire entrepreneur retweeted a Tesla post asking for interested graffiti artists to get in touch.
“If you want to help cover Giga Berlin in awesome graffiti art, send us your work at GigaBerlinArt@Tesla.com,” the message said.
If you want to help cover Giga Berlin in awesome graffiti art, send us your work at GigaBerlinArt@Tesla.com
— Tesla (@Tesla) May 26, 2021
Despite run-ins with environmental protesters over the past year or so, construction work has been progressing steadily at Tesla’s site around 20 miles (32 km) southeast of the German capital.
However, on a visit to the site earlier this month, Musk said that issues around approval processes meant the plant, which will manufacture batteries, battery packs, and powertrains for Tesla’s electric vehicles and also assemble its Model Y vehicle, looks likely to miss its targeted summer opening date, with operations now expected to begin toward the end of this year.
In comments reported by Reuters, Musk told reporters that he blamed red tape for the delay, saying, “I think there could be less bureaucracy; that would be better.”
The Tesla boss continued: “There should be some kind of active process for removal of rules. Otherwise, over time, the rules will just accumulate and you get more and more rules until eventually you can’t do anything.”
Reuters noted that Germany “is known for its complex regulation and bureaucracy,” something that Musk and Tesla are evidently now getting a taste of.
Giga Berlin pic.twitter.com/UXQMUVTWXf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2020
Still, having those extra months of preparation means the company can take its time seeking out talented graffiti artists to help it add a splash of color to the facility.
And that’s not the only thing that’s set to make Giga Berlin strikingly different from your average manufacturing plant. In a Twitter poll posted by Musk last year, he asked his more than 50 million followers if they’d like to see the facility include a “mega rave cave” built beneath the facility or possibly on the roof. More than 90% of the 773,000 respondents approved of the plan. It’s not currently clear if Tesla is going ahead with the idea.
