There is rumbling again around Tesla's factory near Berlin, Germany. Activists tried to invade the factory again late last week. They also threatened further protests to stop the expansion of the Grünheide factory.
Tesla wants to significantly expand its production facilities in Germany. The US electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer's site is currently around 300 hectares. Tesla wants to expand this to 470 hectares.
Up to million EVs annually
Among other things, this should allow a sharp increase in production capacity. For instance, Tesla currently produces around 300,000 EVs a year in Grünheide. The US manufacturer wants to increase this to one million units a year.
The revamped facility should include a train station for goods transport. However, also consider more storage facilities. Tesla also wants to create a childcare centre on the premises, where employees of the factory can have their children taken care of.
Forest felled
The expansion requires cutting down a piece of forest in the area. This led to anger from opponents, who were vehemently opposed to the logging. Local residents spoke out against the plant's expansion in a referendum back in February. In total, some 5,400 local residents participated in the referendum, representing almost one-seventh of all residents. Nearly 3,500 voters turned against the proposal in the process. Incidentally, the referendum is not binding.
The Grünheide factory was also targeted for sabotage in March. Arson at an electricity pylon caused the power in the factory to fail for an extended period. This brought production at the factory to a standstill, after which it took almost two weeks to restart production. Tesla later reported hundreds of millions of euros in damages due to the sabotage.
Possible new actions imminent
So now activists are again threatening action against the factory. The action group 'Tesla den Hahn abdrehen' reports attending a local municipal council meeting in Grünheide on the US car manufacturer's growth plans. It threatens to organise new actions if the municipal council approves the expansion.
This weekend too, there was unrest at the factory. About a thousand activists marched against the Tesla factory. They denounced the company's methods and argued that the carmaker did not take sufficient account of local residents. They also fear the factory's impact on the environment, pointing to risks of water pollution, among other things.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Photo: Blomst via Pixabay
