Located near Berlin, the European factory of the American electric car manufacturer Tesla was shut down on Tuesday, March 5, due to an arson. She was the target of “sabotage”, claimed by a small far-left German group “Vulan Gruppe”, according to a message posted on the Indymedia website. “We have set ourselves the goal of achieving the largest possible blackout of Tesla’s gigafactory,” the movement said.
“In the early hours of the morning, there was a power outage on the public network, probably due to an arson, which led to the shutdown of production,” announced Agence France-Presse (AFP) a Tesla spokesperson, before the claim broadcast by “Vulkan Gruppe”. She clarified that employees had returned home and that the company did not know when production could resume.
An investigation was opened for “suspicion of arson”, local police said. The regional government refers to an “arson” targeting an electricity pylon near the site. “Thousands of people have been cut off from basic supplies and put in danger,” he said in a statement, referring to an “act of sabotage”.
Inaugurated in 2022, this factory, which is Tesla’s only one in Europe, employs 11,500 employees and produces the Model Y, the SUV leading sales of electric vehicles on the continent.
Protest by the population over an expansion project
But Tesla is at the center of criticism after filing an application to expand its 170-hectare gigafactory, which is located in the commune of Grünheide, a forested area south of Berlin.
While the company led by Elon Musk intends to double its production, residents expressed their opposition to the project and their concerns, particularly regarding the factory’s significant water consumption, during a consultative vote . On Thursday, February 29, environmental activists began occupying a forest near the gigafactory to oppose the expansion plans. They built tree houses to prevent possible work.
