Automotive News Europe — 2024-03-05
Automotive Industry
The factory was evacuated and Tesla does not expect to restart production quickly.
Tesla was forced to evacuate its plant near Berlin on Tuesday 5 March 2024 and halt production after the factory was left without electricity following a suspected arson attack nearby by environmental activists.
The fire broke out early Tuesday morning near the Gruenheide plant and bomb disposal units were called in after emergency services found a sign saying "ordnance buried here," the BZ newspaper reported.
A Tesla spokesperson said production had stopped and the site had been evacuated. Tesla said it does not expect production to restart quickly.
Police said they received a call alerting them to a burning electricity pylon in the Gosen-Neu Zittau area near the plant and there were power outages especially in the Freienbrink area, southeast of Berlin.
Police said the blaze had not spread to Tesla's plant itself. They said they are investigating a possible arson attack but could not comment on reports that the fire was started by environmental activists.
Workers for energy company E.ON, which is in charge of the plant's grid connection, are repairing the damage to the high-voltage pylon, which knocked out electricity in the area, the company said.
The factory has been the focus of environmental protests against Tesla's expansion plans for the site.
Tesla wants to double capacity to 100 gigawatt hours of battery production and 1 m cars per year, setting it up to dominate the European market.
Environmental activists have built and occupied treehouses in the forested area they expect to be cleared if the expansion goes ahead.
A spokesperson for the Robin Wood, one of the groups that is protesting against the expansion, said they had no knowledge of what could have caused the incident. "We are totally surprised by the situation," the spokesperson told Reuters.
Citizens in Gruenheide in February 2024 voted against a motion to clear enough forest for the company to build extra logistical spaces such as a train station and warehouses, leaving it to local authorities to decide how to proceed.
The plant's production ramp-up has slowed, though the carmaker produced 6,000 cars in a week for the first time in January 2024.