The US car manufacturer is expecting a suspected arson attack Tesla still with a day-long production downtime at its factory in Grünheide near Berlin. The police are continuing to investigate whether a left-wing extremist group is responsible. Unknown perpetrators set fire to a power pole in a field. There was a blackout in Tesla’s only European car factory and for tens of thousands of residents in the region.
Tesla fears production stoppage this week
According to Tesla, the consequences of the power outage are enormous: “We currently do not expect that we will be able to ramp up production again this week,” said plant manager André Thierig. “Almost all of the approximately 12,000 employees had to be sent home on Tuesday because of the production standstill.” Thierig spoke of damage “in the high nine-figure range.” On Tuesday, trucks could be seen queuing up in front of the plant.
Electric cars have been built in Grünheide for almost two years. The company wants to increase its production in Grünheide from the planned 500,000 cars a year to one million. The factory manager said: “I can’t say at this point whether this will have an impact on the further expansion of the factory.”
Police check confession letters
The police are currently examining a letter of responsibility from the “Vulkangruppe”, which is classified as left-wing extremist. The letter has been received by the police, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The authenticity is being checked. “We sabotaged Tesla today,” the letter said. The group accuses Tesla of “extreme conditions of exploitation” and calls for the “complete destruction of the Gigafactory.” The “volcano group” was already suspected of carrying out an arson attack on the power supply at the Tesla construction site in 2021. At the time, she accused Tesla on the radical left-wing website Indymedia.org of being neither green, ecological nor social.
DIHK calls for better protection for companies
According to the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the attack on the Tesla factory’s power supply shows that physical security and the security of data and information can no longer be separated. “Politics and business are jointly required to ensure the security of networks and critical systems,” said DIHK Managing Director Martin Wansleben (65) on Wednesday. The federal government must finally push forward legal regulations on this.
With regard to critical infrastructure, the so-called Kritis umbrella law is going in the right direction, said Wansleben. The aim is to improve the level of protection for operators of critical systems and to support their own security efforts. “The measures should therefore be viewed in connection with the regulations on cyber protection of critical infrastructures,” said the DIHK general manager. However, the federal government has been delaying the adoption of the relevant law for months.
Politicians express shock
The violent protest against the US company Elon Musk (52) shocked Brandenburg’s state government. She spoke of a perfidious attack and warned of a form of terrorism. Brandenburg’s CDU leader Jan Redmann (44) is calling for the Federal Prosecutor General to be involved.
Tesla boss Musk reacted angrily and wrote on the portal
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) also condemned the alleged arson attack. She said: “If a left-wing extremist motive is confirmed, then that is further evidence that the left-wing extremist scene does not shy away from attacks on critical energy infrastructure.” The potential threat posed by left-wing extremism is still high, Faeser also said the “Rheinische Post”. And the potential for violent autonomous people has recently continued to grow.