Brandenburg
Nothing works anymore: Tesla factory remains idle after suspected attack
Trucks are queued up in front of the Tesla Gigafactory. In the Tesla car factory in Grünheide, production is at a standstill due to a power outage after an attack on a power pole.
© Sebastian Christoph Gollnow / DPA
Tesla has been building cars in Grünheide for two years, but nothing is rolling off the assembly line this week. While Elon Musk is raging on Twitter after the alleged arson attack, the company is expecting immense damage.
After a suspected arson attack, the US car manufacturer Tesla is expecting a production stoppage at its factory that will last for days Grünheide near Berlin. The police are continuing to investigate whether a left-wing extremist group is responsible. Unknown perpetrators set fire to a power pole in a field. There was a blackout in Tesla’s only European car factory and for tens of thousands of residents in the region.
Tesla fears production stoppage this week
According to Tesla, the consequences of the power outage are enormous: “We currently do not expect that we will be able to ramp up production again this week,” said plant manager André Thierig. “Almost all of the approximately 12,000 employees had to be sent home on Tuesday because of the production shutdown.” Thierig spoke of damage “in the high nine-figure range”. Trucks were piled up in front of the plant on Tuesday.
Electric cars have been built in Grünheide for almost two years. The company wants to increase its production in Grünheide from the planned 500,000 cars a year to one million. The factory manager said: “I can’t say at this point whether this will have an impact on the further expansion of the factory.”
Politicians express shock
The violent protest against Elon Musk’s US company shocked Brandenburg’s state government. She spoke of a perfidious attack and warned of a form of terrorism. The “Vulkan group,” which is classified as left-wing extremist, previously wrote that it was responsible for the arson: “We sabotaged Tesla today.” In an email, Tesla was accused of “extreme exploitation conditions” and called for the “complete destruction of the Gigafactory”.
“This has nothing to do with protest. These are criminals,” said Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) on Tuesday evening in the RBB program “Brandenburg aktuell”. “These are criminals and we will hunt them down with all the means that our constitutional state provides.” The “volcano group” is known to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. She was already suspected of carrying out an arson attack on the power supply at the Tesla construction site in 2021.
Tesla boss Musk reacted angrily and wrote on the portal Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) also condemned the alleged arson attack. She said: “If a left-wing extremist motive is confirmed, then that is further evidence that the left-wing extremist scene does not shy away from attacks on critical energy infrastructure.” The potential threat posed by left-wing extremism is still high, Faeser also told the “Rheinische Post”. And the potential for violent autonomous people has recently continued to grow.
Economics Minister: Attack on people too
Tesla factory manager Thierig reacted with dismay on Tuesday. “For us, this is really an attack on this industrial settlement here in Brandenburg. We have over 12,000 employees that we cannot continue to employ at the moment.” Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) demonstratively supported the company. This was “not only an attack on material, but also on the people who work here,” he said. “We want Tesla to continue producing here at this location, so that they can regain the trust that was initially lost today.”
The country will do everything it can to prevent such incidents – “as far as it can with terrorist activities.” According to Steinbach, the security precautions for the critical electricity infrastructure are now being examined and strengthened. The police searched for traces on the freely accessible electricity pole on Tuesday.
Volkswagen produces electricity itself for its main plant in Wolfsburg
How are other car manufacturers dealing with the danger? Volkswagen sees itself on the safe side when it comes to the power supply for its main plant in Wolfsburg. VW produces the electricity for the plant itself; the power plant is located directly on the factory premises and also supplies the surrounding city with electricity and district heating. A spokesman said that this ensured the supply of energy to the plant.
Consequences possible for protest camp in the forest next to the Tesla factory
After the alleged arson attack, the state government is also examining the consequences for a protest camp set up by critics in a forest near the plant. “This can also mean ending toleration,” said Economics Minister Steinbach. Most recently it was said that the camp with tree houses that was set up last week would initially be tolerated until mid-March. The environmental activists rejected any connection with the alleged attack. “We are opposing the expansion of the factory with our bodies and tree houses. We are not endangering human lives,” said the Stop Tesla initiative.