Tesla's Berlin Factory Expansion Faces Strong Opposition from Environmental Organizations

TapTechNews September 25th news, Tesla's Berlin factory is undergoing expansion, but this plan is facing strong opposition from environmental organizations. Local residents and environmentalists worry that the expansion will damage the local forest ecology and have a negative impact on the environment.

Earlier this year, residents in Grünheide, where the Tesla Berlin factory is located, voted against the factory's expansion plan. The plan requires the felling of more than 100 hectares (about 247 acres) of forest to make room for the factory's expansion. Although local officials have approved this plan, members of the environmental organization Stop Tesla still remain in the forest to prevent the logging work from proceeding. They have adopted the strategy of tree huggers, occupying trees to stop logging.

Previously, Tesla's Berlin factory was forced to suspend production due to an attack. The attackers damaged the factory's power grid facilities, leading to the factory's shutdown. In addition to the protests from environmental organizations, the factory is also facing another problem: bombs from World War II were found at the construction site and need to be dismantled.

According to German media rbb24, Tesla has recently made some progress. In order to build a railway leading to the factory, they need to cut down some trees. In the early hours of Tuesday local time, Tesla cut down about 3000 trees under the protection of the police.

The environmental organization Stop Tesla said that the logging work started around 2 am. Employees of the railway company and the police appeared in the forest, began to enclose the logging area, and used heavy machinery to cut down trees. The organization believes that Tesla's choice to conduct logging work in the dead of night is a provocation, as the presence of the police and the noise of heavy machinery are frightening.

However, the German railway company denied this accusation, stating that they must start work in the dead of night in order to prepare for the arrival of workers the next day.

According to TapTechNews' understanding, Tesla is seeking to expand the production scale of the Berlin factory to support the production of future models at this factory. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently said that the company may produce the Tesla Semi electric truck at the Berlin factory to meet the needs of the European market.