An online consultation allowing local citizens to voice their objections to Tesla’s massive factory near Berlin will be repeated, the regional environment ministry said on Thursday, amid concerns the process may be in line with regulations.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during a visit to the Gruenheide factory site on October 9 that he hoped to start production in November, which seems increasingly unlikely as authorities have to d review the latest submissions first before deciding whether or not to grant approval.

The repeat process, open only to those who have expressed an objection in previous rounds of public comment but were not satisfied with Tesla’s or the Department of the Environment’s response, will run from Nov. 2-22, according to the communicated.

A Tesla spokesperson said the company remains on target to start producing cars before the end of the year and then ramp up as quickly as possible.

Authorities decided to repeat the process after environmental groups challenged in a separate case also went online that citizens were not given sufficient notice that the consultation would be digital, raising concerns that the same does apply to the Tesla consultation.

“As, in the absence of case examples, it is difficult to assess which legal opinion the administrative courts of Brandenburg would adopt in the event of a lawsuit, the competent authority has decided to repeat the online consultation in the review procedure car factory emissions for reasons of legal certainty,” he said.

Objections submitted in the previous round will still stand, the statement said.

During his two-year battle to get production running at the site, Musk expressed irritation with German laws and processes, arguing the complex scheduling requirements were at odds with the urgency needed to tackle climate change. .

The plant and adjacent battery plant are expected to produce at least 500,000 battery electric vehicles per year and generate 50 Gwh of capacity, outpacing German rivals on both fronts.

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