After an attack on the electric car manufacturer Tesla’s power supply, production has started up again. According to a report, a high-ranking visit is expected.
According to a report by “Table Media”, Tesla boss Elon Musk is coming to the factory in Grünheide near Berlin for the first time since the attack on the power supply. According to information from the publisher, Musk will visit the plant on Wednesday. “Table Media” referred to corporate circles. The car manufacturer did not comment on this on Tuesday.
After a day-long power outage, Tesla has been back online since Monday and is gradually ramping up production. At the same time, calls for an end to the protest camp by environmental activists in the nearby forest will grow louder when a temporary police deadline expires on Friday (March 15).
Expensive power outage
It may still be some time before production at Tesla’s only European car factory runs again as it did before the attack. “We cannot say when we will be able to fully resume production,” the company said. “It’s very difficult to predict.” Although the power is back on, it is not like a light bulb that lights up again immediately after it is switched on. Each robot control must be restarted individually and each system must be checked for possible damage. A week ago, plant manager André Thierig estimated the damage at several hundred million euros.
On Tuesday last week, previously unknown perpetrators set fire to a freely accessible electricity pylon in a field in eastern Brandenburg, which also ensures the supply to 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. Tesla initially expected production to stop until the end of this week. According to the supplier Edis, the decisive switching took place on Monday evening.
Musk’s last visit last year
The Tesla boss’s last known visit to the so-called Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg – about 30 kilometers from the center of Berlin – was a few months ago: After the opening of the only Tesla factory in Europe about two years ago, Musk visited the factory in November 2023 short. The plant opened around two years ago.
Not far from the car factory, environmental activists are protesting against Tesla and electromobility in tree houses. 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 stated that it had nothing to do with the attack. In a citizen survey in Grünheide – the location of the factory – a majority rejected Tesla’s expansion plans for a freight station and logistics areas.
Activists prepare for eviction
The activists are preparing for a possible evacuation of the forest, which belongs to the state of Brandenburg. Workshops would take place on Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare the people in the camp, said a spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative on Tuesday. Experience has shown that evictions place enormous psychological and physical strain on those involved. A police spokesman said on Tuesday that they were examining how to deal with the protest camp. He did not say when a decision could be expected.
Brandenburg’s SPD parliamentary group leader Daniel Keller called for the protest to end. “It is not a demonstration in public space (…), but rather a demonstration on an area that is owned by the state of Brandenburg,” said Keller on Tuesday. The expectation of Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) and Agriculture Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) is relatively clear to end the demonstration after the deadline has expired.
The camp has initially been approved by the police until Friday (March 15th) – with the option of an extension. After the attack, the Brandenburg state government said that toleration would be reassessed. Brandenburg’s Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) said on Monday in the RBB with a view to the camp: “I would no longer tolerate it.”
Source: Stern
