Tesla’s factory in Germany, situated in Grünheide, is slated to resume production on Wednesday, as indicated by local media. Last week, the facility had to temporarily cease operations due to an arson attack on a nearby electricity pole, resulting in a blackout affecting Tesla and surrounding municipalities. With power restored on Monday night, Tesla is actively working to swiftly restart factory operations.
CEO Elon Musk is anticipated to make a visit to the factory, with plans to arrive in Germany this morning. Upon arrival, he will directly head to Giga Berlin to receive an operational update on the Gigafactory. Additionally, Musk is scheduled to hold meetings with Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke and Brandenburg Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach.
As per reports from the German Handelsblatt, Tesla is set to resume production at its Grünheide plant on Wednesday, contrary to the initial announcement of a production suspension until the end of the week. Factory manager Andre Thierig, who had initially estimated a more prolonged production halt considering the plant’s weekly output of around 6,000 cars, indicated a quicker-than-expected recovery. Using the base price of approximately €45,000 for a Model Y as a reference, the disruption in the supply chain resulted in an estimated €270 million loss in sales for Tesla in just one week.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has assumed control of the case, conducting an inquiry into the arson attack on charges of anti-constitutional sabotage, disruption of public businesses, and arson. Initially, the investigation was under the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt (Oder). A spokesperson from the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has expressed preliminary concerns of potential involvement by a terrorist organization in the incident.
To sum up, Tesla’s German factory is poised to restart production on Wednesday following a blackout triggered by an arson attack on a nearby electricity pole last week. While the carmaker incurred notable financial losses, the production halt seems to be shorter than initially expected. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office is now probing the arson incident for anti-constitutional sabotage, disruption of public businesses, and arson, with initial suspicions pointing towards potential involvement by a terrorist organization.
Elon Musk hints that Tesla could potentially integrate Dogecoin in the future, quipping with a playful nod, “Dogecoin on a journey to the moon!”
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has suggested the potential for buying Tesla vehicles using Dogecoin (DOGE), noting that Tesla merchandise sales with DOGE are already in progress. He highlighted the enthusiasm for DOGE among Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory workers, contrasting it with Bitcoin’s more affluent support. Tesla’s decision to accept DOGE payments reflects the growing acceptance of the cryptocurrency due to its rising popularity. Musk’s recent endorsement of DOGE, which is now the 9th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has heightened expectations for future initiatives, although specific plans remain unclear.
Elon Musk predicts that it will take around ten years for most cars to achieve self-driving capabilities. He emphasizes urgent issues such as recent incidents of frozen credit cards and bank accounts in Canada. Elon Musk referred to February 2022, when Canadian COVID protestors had their bank accounts frozen by the government in response to their actions against restrictions.
Despite Tesla’s advanced autopilot and full self-driving (FSD) systems, neither currently support fully autonomous driving. Tesla’s market valuation heavily relies on advancements in autonomy, with the company continuously improving FSD through software updates.
