This was announced during the EV automaker CEO’s visit to the Gigafactory near Berlin this weekend where it hosted a number of locals to celebrate the opening of the EV car plant.

Elon Musk made it known that the production of Model Y will start before the end of the year despite Tesla’s current legal battle with environmentalists who are concerned about the company’s usage of the environment.

Musk hopes the factory will be capable of producing between 5,000 and 10,000 vehicles every week by the end of 2022 according to a Bloomberg’s report.

During the “Giga-Fest” county fair-style event held in Gruenheide near the Gigafactory on Saturday, the merriment included music, rides, and food trucks along with tours of the new plants for local residents.

The factory’s development is in its final phases of construction even though it has faced numerous delays over complaints from the environmental groups in the area who are concerned about the factory’s water use and disruption of wildlife.

Elon Musk on the other stated it clearly that the company would plant even more trees than it cut down during construction and use as little water as possible at the factory.

With the German Gigafactory’s operation, Tesla will further cement its presence in Europe despite facing other competition from well-established European brands like BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen.

The company said it aims to produce as many as 500,000 cars a year and have 12,000 employees at the plant.

For now, the factory may source batteries from other Tesla branches in China according to Musk as Germany’s Gigafactory is yet to have its own battery manufacturing capacity.