Employees of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg work on a production line of a Model Y electric vehicle on March 20, 2023.
Patrick Pleuil | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Electric vehicle maker Tesla didn’t secure a vote amongst locals in favor of authorizing a serious factory expansion for the corporate’s battery and automotive assembly plant in Brandenburg, Germany.
German state-owned broadcaster DW first reported on the vote and that Tesla needed to chop down roughly “250 acres of forest in the agricultural community of fewer than 8,000 residents near a nature conservation area” for the expansion.
Plans for the Tesla expansion in Grünheide, which is in the Brandenburg district about an hour drive from Berlin, had included designs for a rail freight depot and storage facilities that might help Tesla avoid reliance on other logistics providers including existing freight rail and help them avoid production pauses because of parts shortages.
The vote is nonbinding, in keeping with The Latest York Times, which reported that local officials would try to search out one other solution.
On Wednesday, Tesla’s Vice President of Public Policy Rohan Patel wrote in a post on X, the social network owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, “There’s zero impact on any future expansion plans. We fully respect the referendum.” He emphasized that Tesla plans to “redouble our work with the community and all stakeholders.”
The German factory temporarily halted production for roughly two weeks earlier this 12 months with executives citing a neighborhood component shortage, caused or exacerbated by Houthi militant attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
Within the fourth quarter of 2023, Tesla reported that this facility, which it refers to as its Berlin-Brandenburg site, has an annual capability to supply 375,000 of the corporate’s Model Y vehicles. The corporate also said in its most up-to-date quarterly filing that its international manufacturing facilities, including in Germany, allow Tesla “to extend the affordability” of its vehicles for patrons in local markets by “reducing transportation and manufacturing costs and eliminating the impact of unfavorable tariffs.”
While Tesla has remained a top-selling brand in Europe, it faces competition from more battery electric models than ever in and beyond the region.
Sales of recent battery electric passenger vehicles in Europe increased 29% 12 months over 12 months in Europe in January, in keeping with the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Germany and France currently represent the 2 biggest markets for fully electric vehicles in Europe.
Tesla’s sales represented 1.7% of the entire passenger automotive market in Europe in January including fully electric, hybrid and internal combustion engine models.
Tesla shares are down greater than 20% 12 months to this point but were trading nearly flat on Wednesday to shut around $195 per share.
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