Tesla's German Gigafactory Production Halted By Radical Group's Arson Attack

On Tuesday local time, an electric pylon near Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin, Germany, unexpectedly caught fire, halting production at the factory, which is expected to last several days.

In fact, the fire was not a natural disaster, but rather an act of arson. This infuriated Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is based across the ocean, and he criticized the arsonists as being extremely dumb.

However, those deemed foolish by Musk were not perturbed and publicly took responsibility for the act. An extreme left-wing organization calling itself Vulkangruppe Tesla Abschalten issued a letter online admitting to planning the arson and stating that it aims to sabotage Tesla.

The group criticized Tesla for exploiting natural and human resources to produce cars and giant trucks, falsely claiming that electric cars can alleviate the climate crisis, but ultimately exacerbating environmental degradation.

The fire was set on Tuesday because the group saw it as one of the International Women's Day gifts to Tesla in protest of Tesla's unsustainable and unethical corporate behavior. This not only sparked local concerns about radicalism but has also become one of the latest conflicts between Tesla and the environment and labor.

The police said they are aware that the letter was signed Agua De Pau, the name of a volcano in the North Atlantic Azores, and it will take several days for the authorities to verify the accuracy of the information.

As early as 2019, Germany had listed the volcano group as a left-wing extremist organization. Since 2011, the group has been suspected of involvement in multiple arson attacks in Berlin, using different volcano names.

Among them, Tesla's battery factory in Grunheide was damaged in May 2021, reportedly in connection with this group.

The German government has previously cited that the group gains a voice in climate activities through influential destructive activities. But its impact far exceeds the direct damage borne by the units being destroyed.

As a targeted victim, Tesla clearly still needs to deal with the growing voices of doubt, including the public's dissatisfaction with its factory's environmental measures and corporate responsibility.

More profoundly, this fire will further promote society's discussion of the role of the electric car industry in climate change and may exacerbate friction between Tesla and German communities.

Previously, many workers at the Berlin factory complained that Tesla's work system led to staff fatigue and even injuries. Tesla's refusal to form unions has also sparked strong protests in many European countries.

$TSLA(TSLA