Tesla News: Protests In Germany Over Planned Gigafactory Due To Environmental Concerns

Around 250 protestors on Saturday demonstrated at the site of Tesla’s planned factory near Berlin, due to environmental concerns.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the “Gigafactory 4” in November, with construction planned to begin this year and to be completed in 2021. German media has reported that Tesla plans to produce 500,000 cars a year at the factory.

One protester said that the factory would need more than 300 cubic meters of water an hour, an amount which would deplete the area’s water reserves. The construction of the factory will also result in 741 acres of deforestation, which could harm wildlife.

“In such an ecological system like the one here and with the background that climate is changing, I cannot understand why another location was not selected from the beginning,” Frank Gersdorf, a member of the “Citizen’s Initiative Gruenheide against Gigafactory” group which organized the demonstrations said. Gruenheide is the village near Berlin where the factory will be constructed.

Tesla will pay the equivalent of $45.6 million to purchase the land for the factory but Tesla’s board of directors still need to approve of the deal.

A pro-Tesla counterdemonstration of about 30 people also took place at the construction site, where Germans carried slogans such as “Elon, I want a car from you.” Local authorities believe the factory will add thousands of jobs in the region.

Tesla is continuing its international expansion, with the company opening up a factory near Shanghai in record-time last year. The Shanghai factory delivered its first vehicles at the beginning of this year.