Lack of security: Tesla has to stop construction work near Berlin

Friday 18th December 2020

Missing security deposits
Tesla has to stop construction work near Berlin

Things are not going really well in Grünheide at the moment. First, the US electrical manufacturer has to stop clearing the forest after a few hours, now work on the site for the planned factory is suspended. The reason: Tesla should actually have provided a security deposit of 100 million euros.

After the clearing work, the electric car manufacturer Tesla now has to stop work in the paint shop at its factory under construction in Grünheide, Brandenburg. The installation of the machines there can only be continued if the US group has deposited a corresponding security deposit for any dismantling costs, said the State Environment Agency. According to "Tagesspiegel", the car manufacturer would have had to provide a security deposit of 100 million euros by December 17th.

In the third quarter, the industry leader had made $ 8.8 billion. Tesla was initially unavailable for comment. If the money has arrived, measures such as clearing and building the paint shop could be continued, according to the State Environment Agency. But whether the clearing can actually be resumed is questionable: The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court had issued an interim order according to which the planned clearing of 82.2 hectares must be interrupted. A decision is still possible on Friday, said a court spokeswoman.

The Naturschutzbund and the Green League have sued because they fear that the strictly protected smooth snake and the sand lizard that live on the site are endangered by the deforestation. These are already in their winter quarters. The permit for the deforestation of further forest areas for the construction of pipeline systems and storage areas was only granted at the end of November.

So far there is no final building permit for the Tesla factory, but it is making tremendous progress in light of several preliminary permits. The first electric cars are to be produced in the summer. A decision on a final building permit from the responsible state environmental authority is expected shortly. A new development plan for the area has already been decided, for which company boss Elon Musk thanked in German via Twitter: "Thank you Brandenburg and Grünheide!".