In the early morning of Tuesday (March 5), Tesla's German factory suspended production due to power outages, and evacuated the personnel in the factory area. It is said that bomb disposal experts also rushed to Tesla's factory that day. Brandenburg** immediately launched an investigation on suspicion of arson.
Soon, a group classified as a "left-wing extremist" claimed to be behind the blackout. In an open letter, the group, called Volcano Group, wrote: "Today, we sabotaged Tesla. According to investigations, the "volcano group" was suspected of carrying out arson attacks on the power supply at Tesla's construction site as early as 2021, when the gigafactory was under construction. The organization is on the left wing **indymediaThe org accuses Tesla of being neither green, ecological, nor social.
The power outage is also estimated to be due to "environmental issues" at Tesla's German factory. Tesla boss Elon Musk once announced the expansion plan in July 2023. He wants to increase the annual output of the German plant to 1 million vehicles, double the annual battery production capacity to 100 million kilowatt hours, and plans to set up 2250,000 jobs.
However, before the project had even begun, German environmental groups were in action. Since last Thursday, nearly 100 demonstrators have occupied a forest near Tesla's factory as part of its planned expansion. Opponents say the trees would be cut down if Tesla's expansion plan is approved.
In fact, European countries, including Germany, are already promoting that electric vehicles are not environmentally friendly. According to a survey by the European Environment Agency, batteries account for about 16% to 26% of the weight of a car, and it takes more energy to drive heavier cars. At the same time, although there is no mobile pollution from electric vehicles, there will still be waste pollution in the process of power generation. Therefore, electric vehicles consume more electricity and non-green electricity than fuel vehicles, which are not more environmentally friendly.
In response, some say that European automakers have begun to slow down their investment in electric vehicles. Mercedes-Benz, based in Stuttgart, is currently opening the back door to be able to continue manufacturing models with internal combustion engines. "I'm glad that we're flexible," CEO Kang Linsong recently explained. "We can make efficient fuel vehicles on the same production line, as well as plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. ”
As we all know, Germany is the homeland of modern fuel vehicles, and it should be normal for electric vehicle originators like Tesla, who want to beat German fuel vehicle manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, to receive "special treatment" in Germany.