Concerned about the safety of its employees, Tesla contacted the authorities after the attack on the car factory’s power supply. Elon Musk could arrive in Grünheide today.
After the attack on the power supply at the Tesla car factory in Grünheide, the factory boss is concerned about the safety of the employees. “Of course there are concerns,” said plant manager Andre Thierig to “Wirtschaftswoche”. Some employees asked him “whether it was dangerous to wear Tesla clothing outside the factory.”
The company therefore turned to the authorities for support. Thierig continued to report that he informed Tesla boss Elon Musk about the situation after the attack. “He was shocked like us, offered his support, couldn’t believe it.”
Musk is scheduled to visit the factory today
According to a report by “Table Media” with reference to corporate circles, Musk has announced his visit to the factory near Berlin for today. Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) is also expected afterwards. Tesla and government spokesman Florian Engels did not comment on this.
Since the beginning of the week, Tesla has been back online at the factory in Brandenburg after a day-long power outage. It could take time to ramp up production. “This is very difficult to predict,” the company said yesterday. Each control of a robot must be restarted individually. It was only in January that Tesla interrupted production for almost two weeks due to the uncertain situation on the Red Sea.
On Tuesday last week, previously unknown perpetrators set fire to a freely accessible electricity pylon in a field in eastern Brandenburg, which is part of the power supply for the car factory in Grünheide. The far-left Vulcan group said it was responsible for the attack. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office took over the investigation.
Plant manager denies allegations Water consumption back
In an interview with “Wirtschaftswoche”, Thierig rejected allegations from environmentalists against the so-called Gigafactory. Tesla uses less than a third of the contractually permitted amount of water. “We are in discussions with the water association about a possible reduction in the amount of water that has been agreed so far,” the plant manager told the magazine.
Environmental activists are protesting against Tesla and electric mobility very close to the factory. The police are temporarily tolerating the camp with tree houses until next Friday (March 15th). With the occupation since the end of February, the “Stop Tesla” initiative wants to prevent the forest from being cleared as part of an expansion of the Tesla site. The initiative said it had nothing to do with the attack.
The activists are preparing to clear the forest that belongs to the state of Brandenburg. SPD parliamentary group leader Daniel Keller called on Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) and Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) to clear the protest on Friday because it was private property.