A Tesla vehicle plant in Germany was affected by a suspected arson attack that caused a power outage at the plant and surrounding areas.
In the wake of news reports of the fire, a far-left activist group has claimed credit for the attack. Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk slammed the arsonists, calling them the “dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth.”
Setting Fires
AP News reports that Brandenburg’s interior ministry said unidentified people are suspected of having tried to deliberately set fire to a transmission line. The line powers the Telsa vehicle plant and the surrounding area. This transmission line was on a power pylon which caught on fire, resulting in a power outage on March 5th.
German authorities are said to have begun an investigation into the incident.
Evacuations
The employees working at the plant were evacuated as a safety precaution. This transmission line was connected to a power pylon which made the situation extremely dangerous.
Electric pylons can explode into balls of flame if damaged. It’s also possible that there could be other dangers that are unseen given that Tesla was seemingly targeted directly.
Bomb Squad Called
A disturbing note was reportedly found at the Tesla power plant that asserted explosive devices have been hidden throughout the area.
Reportedly this prompted a bomb squad to be called to the scene, though local police have not confirmed or denied this assertion. It is unclear if any explosive devices have actually been found at the plant or in any nearby areas.
Musk’s Comments
Elon Musk wrote on social media platform X how dumb he thinks the arsonists are. He brought up the point of how protesting electric vehicles, which are thought to be better for the environment, is a bad target when compared to the damage done by other sources.
“These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals. Stopping production of electric vehicles, rather than fossil fuel vehicles, ist extrem dumm.”
Group Claims Responsibility
Just hours after the attack a far-left group known as“Volcano Group” released a letter claiming credit for the attack. In the German language, the name of their group is “Vulkangruppe Tesla Abschalten,” which means “Volcano Group shutting down Tesla.”
“We sabotaged Tesla. Tesla consumes earth, resources, people, workers and in return spits out 6,000 SUVs, killer cars and monster trucks each week,” the letter read.
Green Capitalism
The far-left group’s letter continued, explaining how they see Tesla as a symbol of “green capitalism” and a threat to society.
“The factory contaminates the groundwater and uses huge amounts of the already scarce drinking water resource for its products. […] Tesla is a symbol of ‘green capitalism’ and a totalitarian technological attack on society.”
Exploiting the World
Volcano Group in their letter called out the exploitation they consider Tesla responsible for in other countries that they wish would be stopped.
“The lithium batteries come from toxic mines in Chile and devour other rare metals, causing misery and destruction for the people in the mining areas. The battery factory in Grünheide near Berlin requires the rare raw material lithium, which is also mined in Bolivia, for example,” said Volcano Group in the letter.
Police are Investigating the Letter
German police are reportedly investigating the letter from the group to see if it’s authentic. The letter was signed “Agua de Pau” which is a volcanic mountain in Portugal.
The Mirror reports that the police have been informed of the letter, but it is unclear at what stage of the investigation they are at. The incident didn’t just cause Tesla to lose power, but surrounding towns as well.
Context of Recent Protests
This attack comes amidst a swell of environmental protests that have popped up following Tesla announcing plans to begin expanding its operations. Some activists have started staging “Stop Tesla” protests in a nearby forest to the factory.
These protestors are setting up tents and treehouses in the area. It is thought the protest group contains between 80 and 100 activists, though the numbers may have changed after this incident. Many are decrying Tesla’s activities as hurting the area’s water supply.
Production Suspended
According to Reuters, Tesla has decided to suspend production in the plant until further notice while police investigate and the workers recover. While the transmission line near the Telsa plant did get set ablaze, the fire actually didn’t manage to spread into the plant itself.
Tesla claims that this single attack against the company may have caused damages that total up to $1 billion because of the production shutdown. 12,500 people work at the plant and while electricity was restored within hours Telsa is concerned for the safety of its employees.
Consequences of the Attack and Protests
It is up in the air whether or not Tesla will continue its plans to expand the site after the attack, as there has been no official word from the company.
Reuters reported that this planned expansion would nearly double the size of the Tesla. Emergency services were quick to extinguish the blaze and restore order, but the fire in protestors’ hearts is showing no signs of burning out.
