Tesla Focuses Battery Efforts in US as Biden Beats Out Berlin

Tesla Inc. is prioritizing battery-cell production in the US over Germany because of manufacturing tax breaks included in President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

While Tesla has started assembling battery systems and is preparing to produce individual components such as electrodes at its factory in Gruenheide, outside Berlin, its focus for cell manufacturing currently is in the US because of tax incentives there, the company said in an email.

The IRA’s allure has fueled concerns that Europe will fall behind in the race to attract production of EV components. Executives from Volkswagen AG, truckmaker Volvo AB and battery ...