it's raining and it's freezing cold all day But we will continue our protest."Tesla did not reply to a request for comment from Reuters.Although some protesters left of their own accord after police announced the clearance earlier on Tuesday "there are currently still people in trees and rope structures" police said adding efforts to clear the camp were ongoing.Disrupt Tesla had called in a post on social media platform X on Monday for mass protests against "the destruction caused by Tesla and Elon Musk" to forests and water.Protesters have also disrupted the surrounding area by blocking a nearby motorway and interrupting the rail service by sitting on the tracks.Reporting by Oliver Barth Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information employees in Germany are demanding better working conditions putting pressure on the Elon Musk-led manufacturer that’s contending with a sales slump in Europe’s biggest auto market The expected tariff cost is significantly lower than the $4 billion to $5 billion crosstown rival General Motors estimates which Ford attributes to its higher mix of U.S.-built vehicles "We will not tolerate some people bending their backs for others who just don’t feel like coming to work There is no room in this factory for people who don't get out of bed in the morning," said André Thierig manufacturing director of Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg It seems the company has been taking that directive seriously Frustrated by a rate of sick leave that reached as high as 17 percent this summer—compared to a German auto industry average of 5.2 percent—Tesla started checking up on some employees at home sending managers to visit 30 employees while they were on sick leave Such home visits were not well-received, and bosses were greeted with slammed doors and threats to call the police. But Thierig claimed checking up on sick workers at home was common practice and that they were appealing to "the employees' work ethic." Thierig also pointed out that sick leave tended to increase on Fridays and late shifts "That is not an indicator of bad working conditions because the working conditions are the same on all working days and across all shifts It suggests that the German social system is being exploited to some extent," he said The IG Metall trade union, which represents some of the workers at the Berlin-Brandenburg factory, expressed its dismay at this move. Workloads at the factory have stressed employees, and those who haven't called out sick have to pick up the slack for their colleagues who have. "If the factory’s overseers really want to reduce the level of sickness, they should break this vicious circle," said Dirk Schulze, a regional director at IG Metall. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. FILE - Demonstrators walk past the Tesla factory in Gruenheide, Germany, May 11, 2024, at the end of their protest. A local council in Germany on Friday May 17, 2024, approved a plan by electric carmaker Tesla to expand the grounds of its first plant in Europe, which has drawn persistent protests this year. (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP, File) FILE - Activists occupy an area in the forest in Gruenheide, Germany, March 1, 2024. A local council in Germany on Friday May 17, 2024, approved a plan by electric carmaker Tesla to expand the grounds of its first plant in Europe, which has drawn persistent protests this year. (Cevin Dettlaff/dpa via AP, File) Councilors in the Gruenheide municipality, just outside Berlin, voted 11-6 Thursday evening with two abstentions in favor of the plan, German news agency dpa reported. The proposal was scaled down to involve the felling of fewer trees than originally intended. Tesla wants to add a freight depot and logistical space to its factory, which opened in 2022. In a nonbinding vote in mid-February, residents of Gruenheide rejected Tesla’s original proposal, which would have meant clearing more than 100 hectares (247 acres) of trees. “Stop Tesla,” a group backing the protest, said Friday that it was disappointed by the council’s decision and vowed to keep on demonstrating. “We must stay to protect the water and the forest as long as our protection is needed,” it said in a statement. The state government in Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, welcomed the councilors’ decision. The regional economy minister, Jörg Steinbach, described it as “a strong signal for the future development of Gruenheide and Tesla.” Company CEO Elon Musk at the time called the culprits the “dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth” and said anti-Tesla protesters were misguided for aiming to halt production of electric vehicles rather than those powered by fossil fuels. It succeeded on both those counts, but discontent over the site could still help deliver the state of Brandenburg to the far-right AfD in elections on Sunday. Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Jane Merriman and David Gregorio Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Sandra Maler Nearly a third of consumers surveyed by Edmunds in August said they were less likely to consider purchasing a Tesla because of Elon Musk.Investors are focusing on deliveries watching quarter by quarter said Will Rhind will be "making sure that the company delivers on what it says it's going to deliver on."Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Peter Henderson and Franklin Paul Reporting by Christina Amann; Additional Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Susan Fenton without specifying a reason.Reporting by Andrey Sychev and Anna Dittrich; Editing by Bill Berkrot Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Writing by Christoph Steitz; editing by Matthias Williams Autos correspondent in Germany, covering the industry's transition to electric vehicles. Previously reported on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the retail sector in South Asia, China and Europe, and wider general news. Formerly at YouGov and Economy, a charity working to produce accessible economics coverage. Christoph Steitz and Juby Babu; Editing by Tomasz Janowski The expected tariff cost is significantly lower than the $4 billion to $5 billion crosstown rival General Motors estimates, which Ford attributes to its higher mix of U.S.-built vehicles. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama The factory has topped out making around 6,000 Model Y sport utility vehicles a week about 20 miles southeast of Berlin in the state of Brandenburg Tesla opened the factory — its first in Germany — earlier this year in an area characterized by its forests and small lakes The company has already started clearing trees for an expansion Germany — Deep in the pine woods just southeast of Berlin is a massive Tesla factory that opened earlier this year as Europe's first manufacturing outpost for Elon Musk's electric vehicle company The site's main facility has the same amount of space as 130 soccer fields churning out a few thousand vehicles a week But Musk's plan to triple the size of the operation is running up against one big problem: The plant is in a drought-stricken part of the country where water is scarce and it takes a substantial amount of water to do things like paint exteriors cast vehicle parts and cool heavy machinery Tesla's contract with the German government estimates that the expanded factory will use 1.4 million cubic meters of water every year or roughly the same amount of water that a city of more than 30,000 people would consume as local leaders and Tesla officials scramble to find enough water to keep expanding the site already the largest employer in this bucolic slice of eastern Germany residents are worried about the possibility of a major shortage in front of the Tesla factory in Gruenheide on Oct Loeb is concerned that the factory poses a risk to the groundwater and that Tesla has not been transparent about its manufacturing processes and developments "The water problems are huge," said local activist Thomas Loeb who is a member of Germany's Ecological Democratic Party the people will no longer have any drinking water." But environmental activists and residents are right to be concerned about the strain of the factory's potential increased water demand, even if it pales in comparison to other industries, like coal-fired power plants in the area who heads the hydrogeology department at Berlin's Technical University "Due to a decreasing water availability and increasing water demand, there is a mismatch," said Engelhardt, who has pointed out that eventually there might not be enough water for everyone The water dispute has prompted lawsuits, and it caused the Tesla plant to delay its opening by six months. But Elon Musk literally laughed off the water problem when asked about it at a press conference last fall There is water everywhere here," Musk said Tesla CEO Elon Musk (right) and Armin Laschet the prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia at the time speak with the press during a tour of the Tesla plant in Gruenheide on Aug Mention Musk's remarks to Brandenburg's minister of economic affairs this was not 100% helpful," Steinbach said Steinbach was a key figure in enticing Tesla to open a plant in Germany He said he has long known that building it up to full capacity would mean grappling with local water limitations "If you always use the water which is directly under your feet you always run into that problem of whether it's sufficient for public use as well as industrial use," he said near the Tesla factory in Gruenheide on Oct Government officials have been scouring the area for new water sources and have drilled wells in Hangelsberg Steinbach said planners are now installing pipes from the wells to the Brandenburg factory He would not say when he expects the project to be completed the water expert at Berlin's Technical University is skeptical that piping in water from another part of eastern Germany will be an enduring solution The new wells are "in my mind not a very sustainable and promising solution as the water scarcity is similar in most parts of Southeast Brandenburg," she said "I'm afraid there will be a time when a water shortage for some use will be a reality." Building out the site in Germany is crucial to Tesla meeting its global demand for electric cars the factory is making about 2,000 cars a week Musk hopes to bring that number up to 5,000 "It's probably a bit of a culture shock for Tesla a Berlin-based analyst who tracks electric cars in Europe It's not just water. Local activists fighting Tesla on everything from tree preservation to saving sand lizards have delayed the timeline Two old signs in the forest declaring the area a nature reserve in Gruenheide on Oct The top sign dates to the time when Germany was still divided and the area belonged to East Germany "It's gotten to the stage with the Tesla facility that these pressure groups are slowing the progress down," Schmidt said but German businesspeople talk about the relatively fast clip of the site's development as moving at "Tesla speed" — which is a sore point for local activists who say there was not sufficient community input before the sprawling site was approved Tesla, the world's most valuable car company, faces growing competition in the electric vehicle market from Volkswagen, GM, BMW and others. Analysts expect it to double the number of electric vehicles it produces in the coming years, using major plants in Fremont, Calif., and Shanghai, as well as Germany. Back at his government office, Steinbach notes that in surveys his department has conducted, the majority of residents in the Brandenburg area support the factory, which now employs about 7,000 workers. When the factory is fully built out, the company expects its workforce in Germany to be around 12,000. But on Musk himself, like in America, people are divided. "Fifty percent see the messiah in Elon Musk and Tesla. And for 50% it's coming from the devil," he said. Local activist Heidemarie Schroeder, 69, in Gruenheide on Oct. 26. For Heidi Schroeder, a local resident and activist opposed to the site's expansion, the case against expansion is simple: Just stop now to save the local water supply. "There's already a lack of water. Tesla will need a lot of water," she said. "We do not have this water." "Go away with your car. We do not want to have you here," she said. "Go to the Mars for instance. That would be beautiful." Reporting by Tobias Schlie and Leon Malherbe; writing by Rachel More Miranda Murray and Madeline Chambers; editing by Bartosz Dabrowski Bernadette Baum and Emelia Sithole-Matarise GRUENHEIDE, Germany -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited the electric car maker's first European plant on Wednesday as production resumed at the factory just outside Berlin, about a week after a suspected arson attack cut its power supply. Copyright © 2025, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. (NWA Media) This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC Tesla recently outlined what will determine where the carmaker puts its next plant. Looking at the list, it’s easy to imagine Elon Musk wishes he had a do-over and didn’t put his first European factory in Germany. The criteria relayed by Baird’s Ben Kallo includes “as little red tape as possible,” the analyst wrote in a Sept. 8 report. Tesla has experienced a good deal of this in Gruenheide, outside Berlin. It complained in April of last year about the “ irritating” process of getting final approval for the project. Musk’s dancing during the plant opening in March was a rare celebratory moment. The facility — announced in late 2019 — was delayed for months by legal challenges from environmental groups concerned the site would use too much water and threaten local wildlife. Weeks after production finally started, Musk referred to Tesla’s factories in Germany and Texas as “gigantic money furnaces” that were losing billions of dollars. Now, more roadblocks are popping up. Last week, broadcaster RBB reported that authorities in Gruenheide had indefinitely postponed a vote on Tesla’s plan to expand the factory by around 100 hectares (247 acres) to add a freight yard and warehouse for stockpiling parts. At least part of the expansion would be into an environmentally protected area, and any plan to chop down more trees will surely run into stiff opposition. “There is a need for clarification with authorities regarding the development possibilities for the entire municipality of Gruenheide,” Arne Christiani, the town’s mayor, said by phone. “It’s unclear when this will be resolved.” There have been signs Germany’s bureaucracy could be costly with respect to Tesla’s investment in Gruenheide. Late last year, the company decided to forgo 1.14 billion euros ($1.12 billion) of state aid because it opted to try producing a new type of battery cell in Texas first. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that the company was pausing plans to make battery cells in Germany and had discussed shipping cell-making equipment to the U.S. Joerg Steinbach, the economy minister for the state of Brandenburg, where Tesla’s factory is located, tweeted Wednesday that he’s been assured all is well. “The commitment in Gruenheide remains unchanged, especially regarding expansion plans for automobile production,” Steinbach tweeted after a conversation with Tesla representatives in Washington. “The battery factory will be completed. Internal process modifications and prioritizations are pending. But the factory is coming.” Amid all these reports, Tesla recently hosted an open house at a Gruenheide convention center, where employees mingled with a few dozen visitors munching on pretzel sandwiches and donuts. Tesla staffers in black T-shirts presented the carmaker’s plans with respect to logistics, hiring and expansion, and also talked about more sensitive issues such as water consumption. One theme dominated the conversations: Just-in-time production, the workers said, has become untenable due to supply-chain snags, COVID-caused factory shutdowns and skyrocketing logistics costs. This is the reason Tesla is trying to expand the factory with the warehouse to store more parts and a multi-track freight yard to shift deliveries to trains from trucks. One employee said that for battery components from China, Tesla has had to deal with container bottlenecks at Hamburg harbor. Choosing more expensive air freight isn’t a great option either, as cargo planes are being diverted around the closed Russian-Ukrainian airspace, further driving up costs. Tesla has made some unconventional moves to navigate out of production quagmires before, perhaps most notably in 2018, when it was struggling to mass-manufacture the Model 3. The company ended up constructing an assembly line under a massive outdoor tent to boost output. Germany’s infamous red tape and its strong labor unions make that kind of unconventional problem-solving much harder. Last month, Musk said during Tesla’s annual meeting that where were still a “host of problems” to work through both in Austin and Gruenheide. While both may be having a hard time spooling up, the company has clearly shown a greater willingness to take on more in Texas. Tesla plans to reuse nearly all of the water used at the plant by bolstering recycling representatives for the company said Tuesday at an event with local residents The push to expand the Gruenheide facility to make 1 million vehicles a year comes even as it currently runs at roughly half its interim capacity to make 500,000 vehicles annually FILE - Model Y electric vehicles stand on a conveyor belt at the opening of the Tesla factory in Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide Tesla production stands still because of The armed conflicts in the Red Sea and the associated shifts in transport routes between Europe and Asia FILE - Tesla CEO Elon Musk claps hands at the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide BERLIN (AP) — Tesla says it’s temporarily halting most production at its German factory because of attacks in the Red Sea The electric vehicle maker said in a statement Thursday night that its factory near Berlin which makes Model Y vehicles and batteries It’s a fresh sign of how the hostilities in the Mideast are disrupting global manufacturing supply chains with shipping companies reporting that they’re being forced to reroute vessels carrying goods and components on the longer route around the southern tip of Africa Analysts say the detour adds 10 days or more to the journey “The armed conflicts in the Red Sea and the associated shifts in transport routes between Europe and Asia via the Cape of Good Hope are also affecting production in Grünheide,” Tesla said “The significantly longer transport times create a gap in the supply chains.” led airstrikes on Thursday against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in response to their attacks on Red Sea shipping Tesla said normal operations are expected to resume on Feb It opened in 2022 and employs 11,000 workers The Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin has completed its "volume production" objective of 5,000 weekly electric vehicle (EV) deliveries Tesla aims for a weekly output of 5,000 units when bringing a new facility operational for mass production of a new car According to Electrek Tesla's initial goal for Gigafactory Berlin was to reach that point by the end of 2022 after manufacturing had begun late in 2021 Given the ongoing problems in the global supply chain In contrast, Tesla said that it successfully concluded the year 2022 by producing 3,000 Model Y automobiles per week at its Gigafactory in Berlin The factory's weekly output hit a new record of 4,000 units at the end of February the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin has produced 5,000 Model Y automobiles in a single week In a tweet the plant beat out Gigafactory Texas for this significant achievement If Gigafactory Berlin can keep up its current manufacturing pace it will be able to manufacture over 250,000 automobiles annually And now that it has reached its goal with Model Y manufacturing Tesla is anticipated to add a new model to the lineup at Gigafactory Berlin which is noteworthy since Tesla is now authorized to build 500,000 cars per year out of the factory but the company has been silent for quite some time Additionally, Tesla has just applied to the relevant authorities to increase output at Gigafactory Berlin to 1 million cars annually The factory's footprint will need to be expanded in order to accommodate this growth Thus the corporation must first get the necessary environmental permits which was introduced at Investor Day earlier this month is likely to be used in Tesla's future production lines A recent report from The Street emphasizes how Tesla intends to take over the car business for years After witnessing the adversaries draw closer, Elon Musk's crew has launched an effort to thwart them The world's two biggest car markets-China and the US-are the targets of the Austin and Model S have all been reduced in price Tesla's rivals lowered their vehicle pricing to stay competitive The carmaker reportedly manufactured 1.37 million cars last year and aims to create 1.8 million this year Tesla has established factories on the three continents with the largest vehicle sales to reach this goal: Fremont and the Shanghai and Berlin factories in Asia and Europe Meanwhile, the automaker recently revealed the next Mexican facility The German manufacturing plant took a significant stride while waiting for the new Mexican factory It recently added additional production each week Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage Demonstrators protest against the expansion of the Tesla Gigafactory BERLIN (Reuters) - A camp of protesters opposed to the expansion of U.S electric vehicle maker Tesla's plant in Grueneheide near Berlin is being cleared Numerous violations of assembly regulations meant that security could no longer be guaranteed argue that plans to double the size of its factory will damage the environment In a post on social media platform X on Monday the group had called for mass protests against the expansion saying it opposed "the destruction by Tesla and Elon Musk to protect forests and water" It has not commented on the site's clearance by police on Tuesday Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters the protesters clashed with police as some attempted to storm the facility which is Tesla's only European gigafactory and employs around 12,000 staff protesters have also disrupted the surrounding area by blocking a nearby motorway and interrupting the rail service by sitting on the tracks (Reporting by Friederike Heine; editing by Jason Neely) We would love to keep you posted on the latest promotion Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla is laying off many workers to save costs and improve efficiency, according to an internal communication from CEO Elon Musk.Elon Musk indicated in an email that the EV maker will cut worldwide staff by "more than 10%." Tesla's workforce in 2023 was around 140,000; therefore these Tesla layoffs could affect over 14,000 people according to a report from TechCrunch.Tesla downsized after reporting its first year-over-year sales dip in three years as well as a wider drop in electric car demand Musk warned investors that revenue growth in 2024 may fall below the company's 50% forecast with the Cybertruck and Model Y now in their fourth year without improvements The company's latest performance measures show that these failures have corresponded with a global demand downturn Elon Musk denied that his negative public image caused the sales drop. Instead, he noted that companies like BYD were also struggling, acknowledging the challenges that the sector is facing.Tesla runs factories in Germany and China. In the US, it has EV manufacturing facilities in California ⓒ 2025 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage! Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Jan Harvey , opens new tab plans to set up about 300 kilometres west in Salzgitter near its home base.DOES ANYONE SUPPORT THE FACTORY (APART FROM ELON)?Yes.Tesla's move is seen as a major boost to eastern Germany which has struggled with high unemployment rates and difficulties to attract large industrial firms.Once fully up and running which Tesla said will be the "most advanced high-volume electric vehicle production plant in the world" is expected to create 12,000 jobs and have a capacity of up to 500,000 cars a year."We're in favour of a shift towards emission-free mobility and the cars needed to achieve that must be built somewhere," said Ralf Schmilewski a member of the Greens Party in Gruenheide's neighbouring town Erkner.He said Tesla's plans also address a demographical issue which has seen younger generations to leave the structurally weak area in their desperate search for jobs."Now they have a perspective and don't have to move."SO WHAT'S NEXT?Until mid-July members of the public can sift through the roughly 11,000 pages of Tesla's application documents the third time they have been put on display.As part of the process before the Brandenburg environmental agency decides whether a public discussion should take place on Sept 13.When the documents were last made available publicly more than 400 objections were raised.After that there is no clear timeline At some point the agency is expected to grant final approval - but when is anyone's guess.(This story corrects Reuters instrument code for Tesla in paragraph 3)Reporting by Nadine Schimroszik and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Pravin Char Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk will be selling his 19.5 million shares of the company worth $3.95 billion No explanation on why did he sell this huge amount of shares but this might go to the $44 billion deal on acquiring Twitter On Tuesday, American entrepreneur Elon Musk sold $3.95 billion worth of Tesla shares as he closed the $44 billion acquisition deal with Twitter. According to TechCrunch's report the United States Securities and Exchange Commission obtained three fillings from the CEO Musk also sold $22 billion worth of shares from the same company the same year when the stock increases by over 50% he sold $8.4 billion worth of shares in April and $6.9 billion worth in August During these times, he confirmed that he will be done selling shares. "In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close *and* some equity partners don't come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock," Musk stated when asked by $TSLA investor Sawyer Smith Aside from selling his shares, the CEO relied on his business partners for acquiring Twitter. CNBC reported that these include equity investors Binance and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia Despite Tesla stocks being down to 46% this year Musk is still the richest person in the world with a net worth of $200 billion Based on a report from The Verge Twitter has been struggling after Musk's captaincy Several advertisers halted their operations on Twitter because of the changed positions Top Advertising Executive Sarah Personette also resigned According to the report, Musk has been meeting the advertisers personally yet these resulted to unfinished meetings due to some comments and actions that he did that made them worry. AdWeek also reported that some of the questions from the brands were not answered he pulled several engineers from Tesla to Twitter as he ask for assistance with code review and other works from the social media platform after acquiring the company He stated during the conference last week with hedge fund manager Ron Baron that "once Twitter is set on the right path I think it will be much easier thing to manage There are still no confirmations regarding who will be the new Chief Executive Officer of Twitter as he clarified that his role to the company as "Chief Twit" and sole director is only temporary Pine trees cleared during groundwork for Tesla Inc.’s Gruenheide factory Photographer: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images A Berlin-Brandenburg court on Thursday ruled that Tesla can resume cutting down trees at a forest site in the small town of Gruenheide to make way for its first assembly plant in Europe carmaker on track to start construction before the start of a crucial breeding period for local wildlife in March Carmaking giants once dismissed Tesla as a feeble upstart Now Elon Musk is building a massive factory in their backyard XLinkedInEmailLinkGiftFacebookXLinkedInEmailLinkGiftBy January 17 2020 at 12:00 AM ESTUpdated on January 17 2020 at 5:40 AM ESTBookmarkSaveGerman rangers stand guard to shoo away visitors from a nondescript stretch of forest near Berlin where a sign nearby warns of “Lebensgefahr” (mortal danger) Germany is also known for its complex regulation and bureaucracy."I think there could be less bureaucracy that would be better," Musk told reporters at the Gruenheide site adding that rules were "immortal".Brandenburg's Economy Minister Joerg Steinbach had earlier said that Musk would be visiting adding no meetings with either him or state premier Dietmar Woidke were planned as the visit was mainly "technical in character"."There should be some kind of active process for removal of rules the rules will just accumulate and you get more and more rules until eventually you can't do anything," Musk said.German newspaper Tagesspiegel said that the Tesla CEO and founder’s plane had landed in Berlin late on Sunday.Reporting by Nadine Schimroszik; Writing by Christoph Steitz; editing by Barbara Lewis claps hands at the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide is an important pillar of Tesla’s future strategy Tesla cars are parked at the construction site of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin The construction site of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars is pictured in Gruenheide near Berlin FILE - The construction site of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars is pictured in Gruenheide near Berlin Electric car manufacturer Tesla is opening its first European factory on the outskirts of Berlin today in an effort to challenge German automakers on their home turf The company says its new “Gigafactory” will employ 12,000 people and produce 500,000 vehicles a year.(AP Photo/Michael Sohn Tesla CEO attend the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide Tesla employees attend the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide Tesla cars are parked at the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin Electric car manufacturer Tesla is opening its first European factory on the outskirts of Berlin in an effort to challenge German automakers on their home turf The company says its new “Gigafactory” will employ 12,000 people and produce 500,000 vehicles a year German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck delivers a statement in front of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin A truck loaded with Tesla cars leaves the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin Model Y electric vehicles stand on a conveyor belt at the opening of the Tesla factory in Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide A Model Y electric vehicle rolls off the assembly line at the opening of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide Minister President of the State of Brandenburg attend the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide BERLIN (AP) — Electric car manufacturer Tesla opened its first European factory Tuesday on the outskirts of Berlin in an effort to challenge German automakers on their home turf The company says its new “Gigafactory” will employ 12,000 people and produce 500,000 vehicles a year once it’s fully up and running Initial production will focus on Tesla’s Model Y compact sport utility vehicle German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the opening ceremony in Gruenheide who performed an impromptu dance for fans as the first cars rolled out of the factory for delivery He later posted a comment on Twitter thanking Germany with the words “Danke Deutschland!” surrounded by German flags Tesla began building the vast facility less than three years ago before it received official permits to do so the company would have had to level the site Environmental activists have warned that the factory could affect drinking water supplies in the region The company refused most media access to the site and the ceremony Tuesday A general view of the Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin Production at Tesla’s electric vehicle plant in Germany came to a standstill and workers were evacuated after a power outage that officials suspect was caused by arson The interior ministry in the state of Brandenburg says unidentified people are suspected of deliberately setting fire to a high-voltage transmission line on a power pylon Police officers work next to a damaged pylon near the Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin A view of tree houses set up by activists near the Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin Bomberos caminan frente a una fábrica de autos Tesla paralizada por un apagón que obligó a evacuar a los trabajadores An activist sets up tree houses near the Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide near Berlin A spokeswoman said there is an initial suspicion that a terrorist organization may have been involved in the attack said unidentified people were suspected of deliberately setting fire to a high-voltage transmission line on a power pylon A far-left organization called the Volcano Group said it was behind the fire and accused Tesla in a letter of confession of “extreme exploitation conditions” and called for the “complete destruction of the gigafactory,” German news agency dpa reported The police believe that the letter is genuine and are looking for witnesses who can provide information about the incident and possible suspects While electricity for residents has been restored Tesla is still without power and the company has said that the damage cause by the outage is in the millions It may take until the end of next week before Tesla will have electricity again that “these are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals.” ist extrem dumm,” he added in his post on Tuesday The company wants to expand the facility to add a freight depot Those plans would entail felling more than 100 hectares (247 acres) of forest That has drawn opposition from environmentalists and some other local groups which also worry about the possible effect on the area’s water supply residents of the municipality rejected Tesla’s plans which still need approval by local authorities 19 (EFE).- The United States Department of Justice has expanded its investigation into the personal benefits Elon Musk received from his company Tesla indicating it could be interested in pursuing criminal charges the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday The Justice Department is now reviewing transactions between the company and other entities linked to its CEO and a major shareholder and could pursue criminal charges for failing to disclose personal benefits Musk may have received from Tesla in connection with a construction project Companies are required to disclose any transaction over $120,000 that profits an executive directly as well as personal benefits of more than $10,000 paid to executives the WSJ revealed that the Justice Department had opened an investigation into Tesla’s use of funds to finance a secret construction project in Austin that reportedly included a residence for Musk The Securities and Exchange Commission has also launched an investigation into the project known internally at Tesla as “Project 42,” which included a large glass house Tesla’s own board of directors investigated the company’s purchase of tens of millions of dollars worth of special glass that would have been used for “Project 42.” Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters from California to Austin in December 2021 Barely three weeks after slashing its prices to qualify for federal tax incentives for clean vehicles Tesla has increased the prices of some of its best-selling electric vehicles a five-seat Tesla Model Y long-range crossover cost $65,990; on January 12 Tesla dropped this to $52,990 And the Model Y Performance saw its price drop from $69,990 to $56,990; today that same EV will cost $57,990 The original price drops in January allowed the Model Y to qualify for new clean vehicle tax credits introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 the new tax credit regulations imposed a price cap on new EVs in order to qualify which are capped at $55,000 for eligibility the Treasury said it would use the US Environmental Protection Agency's Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency classification to determine what was a car and what was a light truck—a category that includes SUVs and vans but excluded crossovers like the Ford Mustang Mach-E (The seven-seater Model Y was classified as an SUV the US Treasury decided to use the less-confusing consumer-facing EPA labels which counted those models as crossover SUVs when new rules about domestic sourcing of battery components go into effect potentially disqualifying every EV on sale today The January price cuts might have been well-timed for new Tesla buyers, but they weren't exactly helpful to people who already owned the cars. A new study into used car prices by iSeeCars shows that used Tesla prices dropped by almost five percent following the January price cuts compared to just 1.5 percent for the wider industry That has knocked about $2,354 off the price of a used Model 3 and $2,816 off the price of a used Model Y