GAME OVER! Tesla Is Getting SHATTERED By Politics

Tesla continues to face hurdles as it tries to construct a Gigafactory in Berlin, which is important for its expansion plans. How has Germany been delaying the plant’s progress?
Expansion plans
After establishing a manufacturing base in Freemont, California, Tesla wanted to expand to other parts of the world, with Germany one of its first targets. This lead to the decision to build a Gigafactory near Berlin in Germany, which was meant to produce batteries, battery packs and powertrains, in addition to assembling the Model Y. This was announced by Musk himself after receiving a Golden Steering Wheel Award in late 2019 in Berlin.
The company targeted a finish date of July 2021, and began work on the site in Grunheide in 2020, which is about 35 kilometers away from Berlin. It would be the most advanced high volume e-car production plant in the world, employ more than 10,000 people and produce 500,000 cars annually.
But opposition began immediately.
The first round of confrontation came from environmental activists that wanted Tesla to reduce the water consumption at the plant by one-third, which Tesla quickly acquiesced to. The factory site is actually within a designated water protection zone and Tesla adjusted its building plans to comply.
Still in a bid to address environmental concerns, Tesla agreed to compensate for the forest it would clear by reforesting other parts of the region and relocate some of the bats and reptiles that called the forest habitat. It also installed 368 nesting boxes for the remaining birds.
Snail-pace approval process
The local residents are not the only source of delay and disruption Tesla’s Giga Berlin is facing. Much of it can be traced back to the government’s bureaucracy. It habitually draws out the process of approving permits and it has had serious implications for Tesla.
The most headline grabbing one took place when Tesla was ordered to halt construction until it made a rather hefty 100 million euro deposit in December 2020. This came from Brandenburg’s environmental authority that had actually been sitting on the approval application for the Gigafactory, meaning Tesla is paying for a delay by the authority.
The sum, a requirement for a conditional building permit, was meant to serve as a guarantee that Tesla would be able to restore the site to its former state in the event that final approvals weren’t granted. The implication was that Tesla had been building at a large financial risk as it would lose all the money spent so far, which amounts to billions, in addition to the security deposit.
Around the same time, a court ordered Tesla to halt clearing a pine forest on the factory site, in response to the complaints made by environmental activists. The claim was that clearing of the forest could harm hibernating snakes and lizards found in the area. Tesla was required to prove its action would not harm the animals.
Musk even had to fight for the right to call the plant Giga Berlin. Jorg Steinbach, minister for economic affairs for the state of Brandenburg revealed he had wanted the factory to promote Brandenburg, rather than Berlin but Musk threatened to abandon the whole project. A compromise was reached as they settled for the name Giga Berlin-Brandenburg, just like the airport in the state but Musk got ahead of the minister by tweeting the name ‘Giga Berlin’ which quickly caught on with the media.
Tesla was also penalized for driving piles into the sandy soil for the foundation of the factory. As a designated water protection zone, it was illegal to use such construction methods. Tesla commissioned an independent investigation that proved that the piles would not cause serious damage to the water supply in the area, likely succeeding in assuring the authorities as an exception was issued to cover the project.
Still on water related delays, while a water source has been secured for the first phase of the factory, subsequent phases may have to wait as the source they will depend on may take up to five years to be ready, as reported by an employee of the state environmental agency. The agency is yet to commence exploratory work on the groundwater that would feed Giga Berlin future constructions.
The latest snag in the final approval process was delivered by Brandenburg’s Environment Minister Axel Vogt, who cited as a bottleneck what he referred to as a lack of fundamental information as regards Tesla’s building plans. This could kick start a new public consultation that could last four weeks, with an additional four weeks to take objections from local residents. Put together, it means the mid-May final approval Tesla was hoping for would be pushed out further and it would miss its July opening target. This is before taking into account the numerous preliminary applications that have been submitted since March.

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