Tesla Opens Battery Tech Challenge in Berlin
The challenge targets startups working on materials, equipment, automation and AI for large scale battery cell production. © Tesla
Tesla is looking for a few good startups, and this time the prize is a shot at working inside one of its most advanced factories in Europe.
The company has opened the JUNI x Tesla Battery Cell Giga Challenge, an open call for European startups with battery technology that could speed up, cheapen, or scale up cell manufacturing at Gigafactory Berlin. Applications are open now, with a deadline of July 24, 2026.
The timing lines up with Tesla's biggest European battery push yet. In May 2026, Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig announced a $250 million investment to grow the factory's annual 4680 cell production capacity from 8 GWh to 18 GWh, more than doubling a target that had only been set months before. Thierig said on X that the investment would create more than 1,500 new jobs. Combined with earlier battery investment at the Grünheide site, the total now approaches $1.2 billion.
Tesla is casting a wide net, welcoming ideas across materials, equipment, operations, automation, and artificial intelligence. But it's not interested in early stage concepts. Applicants need to show working prototypes, test data, or previous pilots. Submissions go straight to Tesla's cell manufacturing team in Grünheide, and the strongest ones move through technical talks, a pitch day, and potentially a paid pilot project.
There's history behind this. Elon Musk first floated the idea of a huge battery cell plant next to Giga Berlin back in 2020, aiming for up to 250 GWh a year, before the plan was shelved in 2022 in favor of US investment. Now, backed by more than a billion dollars in fresh capital, Tesla is picking that ambition back up, and looking to Europe's startup scene to help get there.