Tesla’s manufacturing unit outdoors Berlin, Germany will possible be shut down for days and value the automaker greater than $100 million, after a suspected arson assault on the native energy grid.
The hearth didn’t unfold to Tesla’s manufacturing unit and no one was harmed, although workers had been evacuated. Hundreds of residents within the space additionally briefly misplaced energy because of this.
A purported activist group calling itself the “Volcano Group” took credit score for the hearth in a letter posted on-line Tuesday. Authorities haven’t confirmed their involvement, in line with Reuters. The identical group took credit score for an analogous fireplace close to the location in 2021.
The group mentioned it sabotaged Tesla as a result of the corporate “eats up earth, sources, folks, labor and spits out 6,000 SUVs, killer machines and monster vans per week. Our present for March eighth is to close down Tesla.” As a result of the whole destruction of the Gigafactory and with it the sawing off of “technofascists” like Elon Musk are a step on the trail to liberation from patriarchy.”
CEO Elon Musk wrote (in German) in a publish on his social media platform, X, that the arsonists had been “extraordinarily dumb.”
The manufacturing unit — Tesla’s just one in Europe — has had a contentious first few years. Earlier than it opened in 2021, building lagged as locals haggled with Tesla over environmental issues. Final month, Tesla’s plan to increase the manufacturing unit was additionally voted down by the general public. Nevertheless it’s essential to Tesla’s operations on the continent, because it now makes round 6,000 electrical autos per week.
