Tesla shares experienced a decline on Tuesday following an incident at the carmaker’s Gigafactory near Berlin, where production was halted due to a suspected arson attack at a nearby electricity substation.
According to a Reuters report, Tesla’s Berlin factory head mentioned that the facility is expected to be without power for several days, with production unlikely to resume this week. CNBC reached out to Tesla for comment but had not received a response at the time of reporting.
During early afternoon trading in New York, Tesla shares were down by 4.5%, while the S&P 500 index experienced a 0.8% decrease. This decline follows a 7.1% drop in Tesla’s stock on Monday, as investors considered the impact of discounts and slower sales in China.
In a statement shared on the social media platform X, Tesla addressed the incident, stating that the arson attack targeted the public power grid, affecting the company’s operations. Tesla assured that no injuries were reported and expressed its intention to restart factory operations as soon as possible.
Brandenburg police informed CNBC earlier on Tuesday that the incident appeared to be arson, and they were conducting investigations to determine those responsible.
A left-wing extremist group known as Vulkangruppe, or Volcano Group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a letter posted on the alternative news site Kontrapolis. The letter, as translated by Google, stated, “We sabotaged Tesla today,” but CNBC could not independently verify its authenticity.
Responding to the incident, Tesla CEO Elon Musk commented on X, saying, “These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals.”
Tesla’s Gruenheide factory, situated southeast of Berlin, has faced opposition to its expansion plans, particularly from environmental activists. Despite the company’s aim to double its capacity for battery production and car manufacturing, plans to clear nearby trees for the plant’s expansion were rejected by locals last month.
In response to the expansion plans, environmental activists initiated an occupation of a forest close to the Gruenheide plant, with demonstrators building treehouses across the area in protest. While initially planned for one week, organizers of the “Stop Tesla” campaign expressed a willingness to prolong the occupation.
This isn’t the first time Tesla’s Gruenheide site has faced such challenges. In 2021, far-left activists claimed responsibility for a fire at the site, which was then under construction. The Volcano Group also claimed responsibility for that incident.
