Attack on electric car manufacturer: standstill at Tesla in Grünheide – who is actually fighting against whom?

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Empty in Grünheide:

Production at the Tesla factory is expected to be suspended for the entire current week

Photo: Lutz Deckwerth/dpa

Grünheide stands still.

Since a power pole was set on fire in the small Brandenburg community near the Tesla factory on Tuesday, production at the factory has been suspended - the workforce has been evacuated.

The electric car manufacturer expects a standstill for days.

The “Vulcan Group,” which is classified as left-wing extremist, claimed responsibility for the attack and in a letter accuses Tesla of exploiting people and nature.

The police have now classified the letter as genuine.

Tesla boss

Elon Musk

(52) wrote on the X portal (formerly Twitter): “These are either the stupidest eco-terrorists in the world or they are puppets of those who do not have good environmental goals.”

Stopping the production of electric vehicles instead of fossil fuel vehicles is “extremely stupid.” The Tesla boss wrote the words “extremely stupid” in German.

The attack comes at an explosive time.

Because the community's decision about expanding the plant is pending.

So who is actually fighting against whom here?

And why?

The most important questions and answers about the situation at a glance:

What is the starting point?

The electric car pioneer has been running its first European car factory in Grünheide for two years and is selling the cars from there very successfully.

In the Gigafactory in Brandenburg, Tesla produces the best-selling car in the world - the Model Y. 375,000 vehicles currently roll off the assembly line there every year.

Now Musk wants to double the capacity of the factory: in the future, not 500,000, but one million electric cars will be produced in the factory.

Apparently, according to internal plans, Musk wants to build the new part of the factory so large that two million cars could be manufactured there.

However, the factory in Grünheide is very controversial.

Musk has gotten into trouble from all sides: employees, citizens and activists are taking to the barricades against the company in Germany.

What's going on in the workforce?

Low wages, short cycle times, a lack of staff, excessive production targets, poor occupational safety - these are just a few aspects that Tesla's employees in Grünheide complain about.

The fact is that Musk generally rejects collective agreements.

It's not just in the USA that he pays significantly less than his established competitors.

In Germany, Tesla employees earn around 20 percent less than their colleagues at Volkswagen and Co., estimates IG Metall.

In this year's works council elections, the union wants its candidates to take over the body and fight for a collective agreement.

She has just suffered a defeat in court.

The works council election for the 12,500 employees in Grünheide will now take place as planned in mid-March.

It had been postponed in the lower court.

With its application, the union wanted to prevent production employees from being disadvantaged in the election, as most employees were not at the factory due to a break in production.

IG Metall fundamentally sees the expansion of production as a benefit for the region, as it will create thousands of jobs in the automotive industry.

But she would like to see more dialogue with citizens.

What do citizens and environmentalists have against the car manufacturer?

Citizens and environmentalists denounce the ecological damage caused by the factory.

Two weeks ago, the majority of residents spoke out against the expansion plans in a citizen survey - but this is not binding.

The expansion is criticized primarily because part of the site is in a drinking water protection area.

Many residents therefore fear about the availability of their groundwater, but also about the risk of contamination.

Another sticking point is the 120 hectares of forest that are to be made way for the factory expansion.

There are also concerns about jobs.

So far, the cars produced have been transported away by truck.

The planned construction of a freight station could make this partly superfluous.

The forest squatters, who have set up their protest camps near the factory since last week, are also critical of the lithium mining necessary for batteries.

Their accusation: the extraction of raw materials causes great environmental damage in Latin America.

In some cases, they also criticize the electric vehicles themselves: Electric cars may have a green coating, but they are not a solution to the climate crisis, said

Lou Winters

from the “Turn off the tap to Tesla” alliance.

Is the criticism justified?

The doubts about groundwater are not entirely unfounded.

Statements from the Straußberg-Erkner water association (WSE) recently suggested that the existing Tesla factory had already clearly violated the permissible limit values ​​for water-polluting substances.

Tesla disputed the elevated readings.

Jörg Lewandowski

, biogeochemist at the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries,

also sees dangers for the groundwater with the expansion .

Tesla's infiltration basin lacks a humus layer as a filter, and otherwise the water can flow through the sandy Brandenburg soil into the groundwater with comparatively little resistance, he told SPIEGEL.

He believes that regular monitoring of pollutant levels is important.

The problem is: a service provider that Tesla commissions is responsible for monitoring groundwater quality by the State Office for the Environment.

Residents have long since lost trust in the company.

There have been repeated accidents in the past involving chemicals or large amounts of diesel and fire-fighting water seeping into the ground.

Why has the dispute gotten so heated?

The anger surrounding the plant in Grünheide is based on a cultural clash that is now probably falling on his feet.

Musk's way of doing business is offensive in Germany because he doesn't adapt to German customs.

This was already evident when he began construction of the plant without permission.

This was made legally possible by a clause in the Federal Emissions Control Act, but morally the step was considered highly questionable.

With its Gigafactory, the Tesla factory is changing the idyllic province in the east of Brandenburg, which is surrounded by lakes and pine forests.

Some like it, others don't.

What consequences does the arson attack have for Tesla?

The company is not expected to resume production until next week.

“We are prepared for such cases, but if the entire power line is interrupted, there are no plans to prevent it,” said plant manager

André Thierig

, speaking of two other attacks in the area in recent years.

First of all, the power supply must be restored and the processes in the factory checked for damage.

Tesla is therefore currently unable to continue to employ its employees.

According to Thierig, the damage is “in the high nine-figure range”.

Trucks were piled up in front of the plant on Tuesday.

Thierig has not yet been able to say whether the attack will have an impact on the further expansion of the factory.

With news agencies