Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Elon Musk is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to voicing opinions. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind when it comes to matters concerning his companies and their operations. Recently, Musk ripped apart a militant group that claimed responsibility for an arson attack near Tesla’s Gigafactory.
German authorities reported that on Tuesday, a fire brigade was dispatched to respond after an electricity pylon near the facility was ignited. This resulted in a power outage, which halted Tesla’s production that Tuesday. The head of Tesla’s factory told Reuters that power would remain down for several days and confirmed that the premises were evacuated.
Workers on the night shift were evacuated from the factory in nearby Grünheide, as reported by the Bild. Tesla informed the newspaper that they didn’t anticipate returning to production soon after consulting with energy provider E.DIS.
According to DW, the power-grid operator Stromnetz Berlin stated that the Berlin districts of Müggelheim, Rahnsdorf, and parts of Neukölln were affected by the outages, leaving around 2,000 households without power.
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Here’s where it gets interesting. A far-left activist called the “Volcano Group” claimed they set fire to an electricity pylon near the plant, resulting in the power outage. “We sabotaged Tesla today,” the activists wrote in a 2,500-word letter to Tesla and Musk. “Our gift for March 8th is to shut down Tesla.”
The letter, distributed to local media outlets, criticized Tesla and Musk. They claimed that Tesla “consumes the earth, resources, people, workers and in return spits out 6,000 SUVs, killer cars and monster trucks each week.”
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The police were told about the burning pylon around 5:15 a.m. local time on Tuesday. Firefighters were then sent out, as reported by a spokesperson from the Brandenburg police to Business Insider. They also acknowledged the existence of the letter, which was signed “Agua De Pau,” named after a volcanic mountain in the Azores. The police confirmed that they were in the process of verifying its authenticity.
On the other hand, Musk slammed the organization for its statement. He posted on X his social media platform, “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.”
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Business Insider contacted Tesla for comment, but there was no immediate response. Last month, The Guardian reported that Tesla’s efforts to expand its only manufacturing plant in Europe suffered a setback when most Grünheide residents voted against the proposals. The electronic vehicle makers told the publication they would now dialogue with all stakeholders to determine their next steps.
According to DW, environmental activists began protesting the plans by occupying the forest near the factory last Wednesday. They intended to camp in the forest for a week to obstruct Tesla’s Gigafactory expansion, which involves clearing over 100 hectares of forest, as mentioned by the outlet.
Additionally, production at the Grünheide plant also temporarily stopped in January due to militant attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. Reuters reported that the suspension lasted from January 29 to February 11.
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