Tesla Inc., a major player in the electric vehicle industry, was compelled to suspend operations at its Gigafactory located near Berlin due to a alleged arson incident at a neighboring power substation. The incident, which transpired southeast of Berlin, resulted in an electricity pylon, situated close to the Tesla site, catching fire. Fortunately, the flames didn't spread to the Tesla plant. The Tesla factory in question is stationed southeast of Berlin in a region called Gruenheide.
Approximately 12,500 employees work at this Tesla site, and it was vacated, with most workers being sent home temporarily. The factory head for the Berlin-based Tesla operation has cited that they're projected to have no electricity for a number of days and has indicated that resumption of production isn’t anticipated this week. This information was reported by Reuters.
Sharing a public statement on a social media platform, Tesla conveyed that they were the intended target of an arson attack on the public power grid. They further mentioned that there were no injuries and expressed their intentions to recommence factory operations soon.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to social media to comment: "These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they're puppets of those who don't have good environmental goals." According to a report by CNBC, a left-wing radical group named Vulkangruppe, also known as Volcano Group, has claimed responsibility for the attack in a letter posted to Kontrapolis.
