Production at a Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) plant in Grünheide, which is close to Berlin, has come to a halt due to a power outage. According to the interior ministry of the state of Brandenburg, unknown culprits set fire to a high-voltage electrical transmission line.
Suspected arson halts Tesla production at a plant in Germany
Known as Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, Tesla applied to double its manufacturing capacity to 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) per year in July 2023. This plant reportedly rolled out 6,000 EVs per week just before it halted operations due to a component shortage in January 2024.
At the time, plant director Andre Thierig said in a Tagesspiegel interview that this was a milestone for the factory. He blamed Houthi ship attacks for the component shortage, which led to a two-week stop in production.
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According to a German news agency, Michael Stübgen, the interior minister of Brandenburg, stated that officials found proof of arson and that this caused the power outage. He said:
If the initial findings are confirmed, it will be a perfidious attack on our electricity infrastructure.
It seems that the alleged attack aligns with environmental protests against the proposed Tesla expansion. Those campaigning in the ‘Stop Tesla’ action built tree houses and erected tents in a forest near the Tesla plant.
The EV maker opened the doors to the Grünheide factory in March 2022. Based on Associated Press data, the intended expansion includes a freight depot, warehouses and a company-based kindergarten. It would need to clear out approximately 100 forest hectares to realise these extensions. The plant currently employs about 12,500 people.
