Far-Left Extremists Claim Responsibility for Today's Arson Attack on a Tesla Factory in Germany

German police are investigating an alleged attack on energy infrastructure near Berlin that has suspended production at Europe's only Tesla car factory. A left-wing extremist group claimed responsibility for the sabotage. According to the extremists' letter, the "attack on the power supply" was carried out in protest against the American automaker. 

"Today we sabotaged Tesla," the letter said, the authenticity of which is still being verified by police. 

In addition to some publicly discussed criticisms of the work, the reasons given included a rejection of "green capitalism".

On Tuesday morning, a burning electricity pole caused a major power outage in the region near the plant. A police helicopter was called in after the fire broke out.

As a result, production at Tesla's only European factory has stopped and people have been evacuated from the plant.

The Bild newspaper reported that the fire was caused by environmental activists who had occupied a part of the forest that Tesla plans to use to expand its plant.

After consulting with electricity supplier Edis, Tesla does not expect production to resume quickly.

"If the initial findings are confirmed, this will be a treacherous attack on our electrical infrastructure," said Brandenburg Interior Minister Michael Stuebgen.

Thousands of people were cut off from essential services and put in danger. 

"We can't say anything about the perpetrators yet, so I would warn against hasty speculation. We must now work with all our strength and concentration to explain the incident," he added.

Tesla said that all measures have been taken to ensure the safety of production facilities, but after consulting with electricity supplier EDIS, the company does not expect a quick resumption of production.

The carmaker plans to expand its factory, which has a capacity of about 500,000 cars a year. This plan was blocked when local residents voted against a proposal to cut down trees to make way for it.

Tesla wants to double the plant's capacity to 100 gigawatt hours of battery production and one million cars a year, which will allow it to take a leading role in the European market.

The facility had problems from the start. Locals were concerned about the huge amount of water required, as well as the speed at which construction was progressing, although completion was eventually delayed, with the factory set to open in 2022.