FRANKFURT: German federal prosecutors said on Friday that they have taken over investigations into a suspected arson attack earlier this week, which resulted in a power outage and forced Tesla Plant to halt production at its plant near Berlin.
The federal prosecution’s office, responsible for probing politically motivated crimes, will investigate “an initial suspicion of membership of a terrorist organization,” as well as acts of sabotage and arson, said a spokeswoman for the office.
Production at Tesla’s Gruenheide electric car plant has been halted since power lines supplying the factory were set on fire in the early hours of Tuesday. Damage to the lines caused a blackout at the plant and affected electricity supply to nearby villages. Tesla expects several more days before production can resume.
Far-left activists from the “Vulkangruppe” (Volcano Group) have claimed responsibility for the sabotage, stating their aim was to cause “the biggest possible blackout of the gigafactory,” referring to the Tesla plant. They raised concerns about the plant’s environmental impact and its effect on the local water supply, particularly as Tesla seeks to expand the site.
A group with the same name was reportedly involved in an arson attack on the power supply of the Tesla plant in 2021, according to a report from domestic intelligence services that year.
Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, criticized this week’s attack as “extremely dumb” in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The company estimates that the incident will cost it several hundred million euros in damages.
The Gruenheide plant, Tesla’s sole European production site, began operations in 2022 after a lengthy two-year approval and construction process marred by administrative and legal hurdles.
Tesla aims to expand the site by 170 hectares (420 acres) and increase production to one million vehicles annually to meet Europe’s demand for electric cars and compete with rivals transitioning away from combustion engine vehicles.
However, the expansion plans have faced opposition from local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.
