Tesla begins clearing German forest of trees to expand electric car plant

Tesla began clearing some 70 hectares of trees in a German forest to expand its electric-car factory near Berlin.

The automaker is also working on an application to increase its storage and logistics capacity at its site in Gruenheide,

Joerg Steinbach, the economy minister for the state of Brandenburg, where the factory is located, tweeted that he is pleased that Tesla will proceed. He added that Germany is developing into a place of modern mobility.

It's unclear how swift the factory's expansion will be.

Major additions require approvals from environmental authorities and another consultation process with locals.

There are complaints that the site uses too much water and threatens local wildlife.

The company has previously said it wants to expand the factory by about 100 hectares to add a freight yard and warehouse to bolster the site's rail links and stockpile parts.