As of: February 21, 2024, 10:53 a.m
By: Bona Hyun
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Elon Musk's plans to expand the Tesla factory in Grünheide are encountering headwinds.
There is resistance in the town, as a vote shows.
Grünheide - Citizens could thwart Elon Musk's plans: Tesla's controversial expansion plans for the car factory in Grünheide have met with majority rejection.
The result of the referendum is not binding for the local council, but it is considered an important milestone.
Opponents of expansion described the vote as a great success, while supporters expressed disappointment.
Majority in Grünheide vote against expansion of the Tesla site
As the community in Brandenburg announced, 3,499 people voted against the expansion in a survey.
1,882 voted in favor.
Municipal representatives still have to approve the plan.
The result of the vote was published on Tuesday (February 20).
Tesla boss Elon Musk could fail with his plans to expand the Tesla factory.
© Kirsty Wigglesworth/dpa
Citizens' initiatives see the no to the expansion of the Tesla factory as a historic victory for forest and water protection - not only in Grünheide, but also for all of Brandenburg and Berlin, as Manu Hoyer from the Grünheide citizens' initiative explains.
After the vote, the “Turn off the tap from Tesla” coalition called on the local council to vote against the expansion.
“The no shows: Now there is an end to undemocratic exemptions and the scandalous turning a blind eye to environmental and labor violations,” said Lou Winters from the alliance.
Tesla is with its expansion plans for the car factory in Grünheide
Tesla supporters were disappointed.
For web designer Tobias Lindh from Erkner, who supports Tesla's plans to expand the factory, the settlement means economic progress.
“We need the switch to e-mobility.
This is necessary in climate change,” he told the
German Press Agency (dpa)
.
There are strict environmental regulations for Tesla, also because the factory is located in a drinking water protection area.
“With the establishment of the electric car manufacturer Tesla, we can help shape the future and the transformation away from the combustion engine,” says a woman from Grünheide, who is also disappointed by the many no votes.
The expansion of the infrastructure by Tesla is also beneficial for the region.
What Tesla plans to do with the expansion of its factory in Grünheide
In addition to the factory site with around 300 hectares, Tesla wants to build a freight yard, warehouses and a company kindergarten on an additional 170 hectares.
To achieve this, more than 100 hectares of forest will be cleared.
The company sees major benefits for the region.
In Tesla's opinion, freight traffic could be relieved with the factory station.
It is also about greater delivery security through storage space.
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Another reason for the expansion, according to
Spiegel,
is that Tesla is slowly reaching its capacity limits.
So far, Grünheide can produce 375,000 cars a year; most recently, Tesla's German factory managed 6,000 cars a week, according to factory manager André Thierig, reports
Spiegel
.
In 2023, the internal production targets were said to have been 4,350 cars per week,
Business Insider
reported in 2023. According to insiders, Tesla manufactured even fewer cars in Grünheide at the time than announced.
After the expansion, 22,500 employees will be able to produce one million vehicles in Grünheide.
This would make Grünheide the largest car factory in Europe and about the same size as Tesla's Chinese factory currently.
Tesla's plans controversial - supporters warned of failure
The Tesla plans are considered controversial.
There have been protests against expansion for several months, but also because of a lack of conditions.
According to the Tagesspiegel,
Brandenburg's Transport Minister Rainer Genilke (CDU)
recently warned that the plans would fail.
Canceling the development plan would significantly slow down infrastructure development in the region and prevent trucks from shifting to rail, according to a statement from the Brandenburg Ministry of Infrastructure.
(bohy with dpa)