Tesla’s European Gigafactory near Berlin has halted operations until further notice following what CEO Elon Musk described as an “extremely dumb” suspected arson attack nearby that left the facility without power on Tuesday.
The attack, located southeast of the German capital, ignited an electricity pylon close to the site, but fortunately, the fire did not spread to the Tesla facility, which is the U.S. electric vehicle maker’s first manufacturing plant in Europe.
However, the incident has forced the company to suspend production at least until early next week, resulting in estimated losses in the high hundreds of millions of euros, with 1,000 vehicles left unfinished on Tuesday alone.
While a company official refrained from confirming whether this setback would impact plans to double capacity at the site, he did denounce what he perceived as negative sentiment towards Tesla.
Emergency services have extinguished the blaze, and power to the surrounding communities has largely been restored. Joerg Steinbach, the economy minister of Brandenburg, the German state where Tesla’s plant is based, condemned the suspected attack, labeling it as having “terrorist markings” and impacting tens of thousands of people.
The Tesla site, which employs around 12,500 individuals, was evacuated, and most employees were sent home. Tesla shares were down 3% at 1522 GMT.
Local media published a letter allegedly from a far-left activist organization called the Volcano Group, claiming responsibility for the incident and launching a scathing 2,500-word attack on Tesla and its billionaire CEO, Musk.
Police are investigating the possible arson attack in the area around the plant, which has been the focal point of environmental protests since Musk launched it two years ago.
“We are shocked by what happened today. It’s the second direct attack on power supply to the factory, and there was a third attack on the railway nearby. We are very concerned,” said plant head Andre Thierig.
Brandenburg state has documented previous arson attacks by far-left activists, including at a Tesla power supply site at Gruenheide in May 2021.
The letter regarding Tuesday’s incident, posted on the website kontrapolis.info, claimed, “We sabotaged Tesla,” describing the attack as a gift marking International Women’s Day on March 8.
Tesla’s ambitions to expand its plant, which has a capacity to produce around 500,000 cars a year, have faced challenges, with local residents voting down a motion to fell trees to enlarge it.
The U.S. EV maker wants to double the site’s capacity to 100 gigawatt hours of battery production and 1 million cars per year, positioning itself to dominate the European market.
Steinbach said his government would reassess the current situation regarding climate activists occupying the forest near the Tesla plant, as the initiative, named “Tesla Stoppen,” had struck a deal with the local government to stay in the forest until mid-March on the condition that they did not make fires or leave behind garbage.
Between 80 and 100 people are currently participating in the action, according to a spokesperson for the protesters, who added that they planned to stay there for several weeks.
