“Tesla no thanks”: demonstration against the expansion of the Tesla factory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, March 10, 2024 (AFP/Odd ANDERSEN)
Several hundred people demonstrated on Sunday near Berlin, citing environmental concerns, against Tesla’s plan to expand its electric car factory established since 2022 in Gruenheide, about thirty kilometers southeast of the city.
The organizers, a coalition of environmental protection groups including Extinction Rebellion, Nabu and Robin Hood, claimed more than a thousand demonstrators, with local media estimating their number at around 800.
The demonstration took place a few days after the Tesla site had to shut down its production lines due to a power outage caused on Tuesday by the arson of a nearby electricity pylon.
A small far-left German group, the “Vulkan Gruppe”, claimed responsibility for this “sabotage” in a statement published on an activist platform, and federal prosecutors took charge of the investigation.
The organizers of the demonstration called for the security of “water supplies” and “real climate protection”, protesting against Elon Musk’s “phony capitalist solutions”.
The American billionaire wants to expand the Gruenheide factory by 170 hectares in order to double production, to reach one million electric vehicles per year.
This “Gigafactory”, Tesla’s only one in Europe, already occupies around 300 hectares, on which around 12,000 people work. This is where the “Model Y”, Tesla’s flagship SUV for the European market, comes from.
The Tesla factory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, March 10, 2024 (AFP/Odd ANDERSEN)
The project has angered environmentalists and residents, who are worried about the surrounding forest and the water table, or an increase in road traffic in the region.
A local referendum was opposed by 60%, but was only advisory.
Present in the demonstration, Annika Fuchs, Robin des Bois activist, declared her wish that local authorities respect the result of this election.
“It is very important for us to take citizens’ opinions seriously,” she told AFP.
A more modest counter-demonstration in favor of the economic benefits of the Tesla project for the region also brought together around 200 people on Sunday, according to regional media RBB, citing the police.
© 2024 AFP
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