The president of Tesla’s works council said on Friday that the company will be resuming operations at its German facility near Berlin next week, following a power outage that halted manufacturing. Since March 5, the Tesla electric vehicle (EV) facility has been shuttered due to an arson investigation into a fire that occurred at a nearby power pylon. German police stated that they thought a letter claiming responsibility for the fire was real, which came from a far-left organization known as the Volcano Group.
Michaela Schmitz spoke to a group of several hundred employees inside a Gigafactory, a facility used to produce electric vehicles:
“We will restart the factory next week.”
Schmitz continued saying
“We won’t be shut down! “Alongside many chapters of outstanding achievements, this attack will go down as a dark chapter in our history. But also, that will not stop us.”
Tesla’s European Gigafactory Faces Uncertainty After Arson Attack
The incident has put the 12,500 workers at the factory in a state of uncertainty and has prevented the American electric vehicle manufacturer from producing about 6,000 cars each week, with damages estimated to be at least several hundred million euros. Some neighbors and environmentalists have been criticizing Tesla’s Gruenheide facility for years because they are worried about the project’s potential effects on the environment. Schmitz did not provide any other information on the restart’s possible timeline beyond stating that Tesla staff will soon get information about it. Schmitz added;
“Colleagues have been condemned to sit at home, instead of contributing successfully together to the energy transition.”
It has already been stated by Tesla that there is a possibility of the plant losing power till the end of the next week. Federal prosecutors in Germany said on Friday that they had assumed control of the arson probe and were looking into allegations of “anti-constitutional sabotage” and terrorism.
Arson Attack Suspends Operations at Tesla’s European Gigafactory Earlier
Previously the European Gigafactory, which is close to Berlin, had suspended operations which, CEO Elon Musk described as a very stupid suspected arson assault that knocked off electricity on Tuesday. An electricity pylon nearby was set on fire in the incident that occurred southeast of the German capital, but the flames did not extend to the Tesla factory, which is the first European manufacturing plant for the American electric vehicle manufacturer.
However, the corporation stated that it has stopped manufacturing, at least until early next week. Due to the downtime, Tesla is expected to have lost hundreds of millions of euros; just on Tuesday, 1,000 automobiles were left incomplete. A spokesperson from the corporation refuted any bad emotion directed towards the location, but he would not commit to whether this would impact plans to expand capacity there. A spokesperson from the corporation refuted any bad emotion directed towards the location, but he would not commit to whether this would impact plans to expand capacity there.
