Tesla halts production until end of next week after sabotage

DPA
·2 min read
Cars belonging to employees of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg parked outside the factory. Production at the Tesla car factory in Gruenheide is at a standstill due to a power outage following an arson attack on a high-voltage pylon. The police are investigating suspected arson following a power failure on 5 March morning. Patrick Pleul/dpa
Cars belonging to employees of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg parked outside the factory. Production at the Tesla car factory in Gruenheide is at a standstill due to a power outage following an arson attack on a high-voltage pylon. The police are investigating suspected arson following a power failure on 5 March morning. Patrick Pleul/dpa

The US electric car manufacturer Tesla said on Wednesday evening that production at its suburban Berlin factory will stop until the end of next week following an attack on its power supply.

Perpetrators set fire to an electricity pylon in a field in Gosen-Neu Zittau near the Tesla factory in Grünheide on Tuesday, knocking out power in the factory, halting production and forcing the plant to be evacuated.

Tens of thousands of residents in the region were also affected by the power outage.

A letter from a left-wing extremist group confessing to the attack was received by the German state police and judged "authentic," they said on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Brandenburg state police said that, "We consider the letter to be genuine, authentic."

The left-wing Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) said it had sabotaged the Tesla factory, accusing the company of "extreme conditions of exploitation."

With the enforced longer production stop, the damage to Tesla is also likely to increase. Earlier, the company cited damages totalling several hundred million euros.

Police investigate a damaged electricity pylon in a field. Production at the Tesla car factory in Gruenheide is at a standstill due to the resulting power outage. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
Police investigate a damaged electricity pylon in a field. Production at the Tesla car factory in Gruenheide is at a standstill due to the resulting power outage. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
Firefighters work on the site of the Tesla car factory in Gruenheide, where production has come to a standstill due to a power outage. The factory in Gruenheide near Berlin has been evacuated, a spokeswoman said. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
Firefighters work on the site of the Tesla car factory in Gruenheide, where production has come to a standstill due to a power outage. The factory in Gruenheide near Berlin has been evacuated, a spokeswoman said. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa