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The alleged left-wing extremist attack on the power supply of the German Tesla factory affects the entire region. The US electric car manufacturer expects downtime costs of several hundred million euros.
That happened: A fire at a high-voltage pylon in Grünheide near Berlin on Tuesday interrupted the energy supply to the nearby giant Tesla factory and led to a blackout in large parts of the region. The factory had to stop producing electric cars and temporarily sent around 12,000 employees home. The plant manager puts the downtime costs at several hundred million euros; over 1,000 vehicles per day could not be built. A failure is expected until at least the end of the week. In addition to Tesla, not only numerous other companies in the region were affected, but also tens of thousands of households in six cities and municipalities.
The letter of confession: One day after the fire, investigators classified the letter of responsibility from a left-wing extremist organization called the “Vulkangruppe” as genuine. Numerous details from the letter indicated that the authors knew about the incident near the Tesla factory. In it, they denounce Elon Musk’s gigafactory as a danger to people and the environment and demand that it be stopped. In the letter, Musk is described as a “techno-fascist”. There is talk of “extreme conditions of exploitation” and the “complete destruction of the Gigafactory”.
Legend:
Burn marks on a high-voltage pylon in a field near the Tesla car factory in Grünheide. Tesla boss Elon Musk wrote on the X portal (formerly Twitter): “These are either the stupidest eco-terrorists in the world or they are puppets of those who do not have good environmental goals.”
Keystone/DPA/Patrick Pleul
The goal of the “volcano group”: The “volcano group” has defined disruption of public order as its goal. It has already attracted attention with attacks on infrastructure and is being monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, as Martin Krauss from Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) explains. She is already being held responsible for the arson attack in 2021 on a power cable to the Tesla construction site. The goal was also a cable duct to the Heinrich Hertz Institute for Telecommunications in Berlin, which, among other things, helped develop the Corona warning app.
Legend:
The Tesla factory in Berlin Brandenburg opened on March 22, 2022 and was designed to produce 500,000 electric cars per year. Production is now to be doubled to one million vehicles.
Keystone/DPA-Zentralbild/Patrick Pleul
The reaction of politicians: Politicians have initially supported Tesla and promised support. Brandenburg’s state government was shocked, spoke of a “perfidious attack” and warned of a form of terrorism. “This has nothing to do with protest. They are criminals,” said Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) on Tuesday evening. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser spoke of further possible evidence that the left-wing extremist scene does not shy away from attacks on critical energy infrastructure. There are renewed calls for improved protection of critical systems. At the same time, it is pointed out that the attack did not just target Tesla, but the entire region. Consistent prosecution was announced.
The mood among the population: Criticism of Tesla continues to flare up in the region. Most recently it was about the wastewater from the huge factory. However, in the most recent alleged attack, Tesla supporters and Tesla critics in the region were equally affected. Likewise, numerous supplier companies beyond the region. The mood has definitely become much more critical recently, said RBB journalist Krauss.