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Elon Musk: “Stopping the production of electric vehicles instead of fossil fuel vehicles is extremely stupid”

Photo: Angelo Carconi / EPA-EFE

Because of the power outage at the Tesla factory in Grünheide and the subsequent production stop, boss Elon Musk verbally shoots against suspected perpetrators.

"These are either the stupidest eco-terrorists in the world or they are puppets of those who don't have good environmental goals," Musk wrote in English on the X portal. He did not say who he suspected was the possible mastermind.

“Stopping the production of electric vehicles instead of fossil fuel vehicles is extremely stupid,” Musk continued.

He wrote the words “extremely stupid” in German.

A power outage caused by a burning electricity pylon in eastern Brandenburg brought the only European Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin to a standstill on Tuesday morning.

The investigators assume arson and are also checking a letter of confession.

The “Vulkan Group,” which is classified as left-wing extremist, had previously claimed responsibility for an attack on the power supply.

She accuses Tesla of “extreme conditions of exploitation” and claims: “We have ruled out endangering our lives and the lives of other people.”

Brandenburg's Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) clearly contradicted this at a press conference in the afternoon.

The alleged attack "crossed several red lines," he said.

Six communities with “several tens of thousands of people” were affected, including hospitals and retirement homes where people may need to be ventilated.

During the alleged attack, the alleged perpetrators “accepted that people would be injured as a result.”

This new quality of attacks should not be tolerated, Steinbach continued.

The minister called on local opponents of the factory to distance themselves “loudly and clearly.”

Now it's also about regaining the trust of Tesla's top management in the USA, said Steinbach.

“There you add together the three events that have occurred since the construction phase” and ask yourself how Tesla can protect its employees.

The “volcano group” was already suspected of carrying out an arson attack on the power supply at the Tesla construction site in 2021.

According to a Tesla managing director in Grünheide, there was also an attack on a railway facility nearby.

The burning power pole that led to the power outage at the Tesla factory and the region on Tuesday morning was about ten kilometers away from the factory.

According to information from the press conference, Tesla expects production to be interrupted for days and damage in the “high nine-figure range”.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) described the alleged arson attack as a “serious crime that cannot be justified by anything.”

kko/dpa