Authorities in the state of Brandenburg, where the plant is located, have said they suspect that someone deliberately set fire to a high-voltage transmission line on an electricity pylon
CEO Elon Musk visited the electric car maker’s first European plant on Wednesday as production resumed at the factory just outside Berlin, about a week after a suspected arson attack cut its power supply.
Production at Tesla’s plant in Gruenheide came to a standstill on Tuesday last week. Tens of thousands of residents, nearby hospitals, nursing homes and a big logistics centre for a German grocery chain were also initially affected. A far-left organization calling itself the Volcano Group said it was behind the fire, accusing Tesla of “extreme exploitation conditions” and calling for the “complete destruction of the gigafactory.” The German federal prosecutor’s office took over the investigation, citing an initial suspicion that a terrorist organization may have been involved in the attack.
The power outage came as environmental activists have been protesting in a forest near the plant against plans to expand the facility.