Tesla Gigafactory In Germany Has Power Restored After Power Grid Attack By Leftist Group
Power has been restored at Tesla's German Gigafactory near Berlin after a far-left militant/environmental group attacked nearby electricity infrastructure, paralyzing vehicle production for about a week.
Grid operator E.DIS wrote in a statement that the Gigafactory in Gruenheide was reconnected to the power grid late Monday night after weekend assembly work on a high-voltage tower.
Last Tuesday, the far-left militant/environmental group known as "Vulkangruppe" (Volcano Group) claimed responsibility for the attack on the nation's grid.
"We sabotaged Tesla today. Because Tesla in Grünau eats up earth, resources, people, labor and spits out 6,000 SUVs, killing machines and monster trucks per week," Vulkangruppe said.
On X, CEO Elon Musk responded to the incident by saying:
"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."
These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024
Stopping production of electric vehicles, rather than fossil fuel vehicles, ist extrem dumm.
Reuters says Tesla plans to "gradually start-up systems in the factory." The massive factory, which produces 6,000 Model Ys per week, employs 12,500 workers.
"It is not yet possible to say how long it will take until production can be fully resumed," Tesla said in a statement.
Following the Gigafactory blackout, Ben Kallo, an analyst at Baird Equity Research, highlighted the need to lower the automaker's vehicle deliveries for the quarter. He forecasted that Tesla would deliver around 421,100 vehicles in the first quarter, roughly 67,900 less than the Wall Street consensus.
Kallo, who turned bearish on the stock in late January, said, "A series of one-time production disruptions have added further complexity to the setup" for the first quarter.
Tesla is an original member of the Magnificent Seven, but it has fallen behind on the year, down nearly 30%, while its peers—Apple, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, and Meta Platforms—have zoomed higher.
Meanwhile, the eco-terroist group is still falling for a "complete destruction of the gigafactory."