Elon Musk's Tesla suffers $1bn in losses after arsonists cause power outage at German factory

Arsonists identifying as the Volcano Group caused Tesla's German factory to lose power, potentially leading to damages amounting to almost $1 billion, claimed the Elon Musk company.

The incident in which a single high-voltage power mast near the Tesla factory in Grünheide was set ablaze left over 60,000 residents in Brandenburg and parts of Berlin without electricity. It has raised broader concerns about safeguarding critical infrastructure from vandals and saboteurs.

Elend 'Misery' Musk

In a statement to the media, the arsonist group referred to Tesla CEO Elon Musk as "Elend" Musk, using a wordplay that means "misery" in German, and claimed that "the complete destruction of the Gigafactory and the lopping off of technofascists like 'Elend' Musk are a step on the path towards liberation from the patriarchy".

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As per a Fortune report citing the plant's senior director Andre Thierig, due to the disruption production was halted, affecting around 1,000 vehicles per day, which he said could ramp up losses in the "high hundreds of millions" of euros.

Tesla's European factory in Grünheide, its first in Europe, produces the Model Y crossover for most European left-hand drive markets, including Germany.

Impact on Tesla

With the factory's ventilation system offline, all 12,500 employees had to be sent home, and repairs by the local grid operator could take several days.

"We currently do not expect to resume production this week," Thierig told the press.

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The attackers, described by Musk as the "dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth," have managed to evade arrest despite their sporadic attacks on electronic cables controlling telecommunications, trains, and manufacturing plants in remote locations once every year or two.

The Federal Association for the Protection of Critical Infrastructures (BSKI) vice chairperson Hans-Walter Borries suggested using drones to monitor critical infrastructure, stating that more needs to be done to protect these vulnerable targets.

"We need to protect these objects just like we might with a military installation," he told regional broadcaster Radio Berlin-Brandenburg on Tuesday.

This incident adds to a series of challenges faced by Tesla's European factory, including recent local opposition to its expansion and allegations of water pollution.

As per Fortune, this incident could have a "silver lining". Despite these setbacks, the production stoppage could help reduce unsold inventory in Europe without requiring additional price incentives.

(With inputs from agencies)