Tesla launched its new car factory outside Berlin on Tuesday, with chief executive Elon Musk handing over the first deliveries to customers as German politicians applauded the US company for spurring on the economy. The so-called gigafactory, situated in Grünheide in the rural state of Brandenburg, which surrounds the German capital, is the electric car manufacturer’s first production site in Europe. In the first stage of its operation, the factory is to produce up to 500,000 electric cars per year and employ around 12,000 people. “A special day for the region, a special day also for Germany a…