Tesla hopes to start production at Berlin factory in October

BERLIN (AP) — Tesla founder and chief executive Elon Musk says he hopes to start producing cars at its new factory outside Berlin in October. The U.S. company had originally planned to begin manufacturing its electric cars at the “Gigafactory” in the east of the German capital in July. But legal challenges and problems getting official permits have delayed the project. Armin Laschet, the center-right Union bloc’s candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in next month’s election, thanked Musk for his investment in Germany. The dpa news agency reported that Laschet suggested German laws should be changed to make it harder for people not directly affected by the factory’s construction to file legal complaints against it.