A number of anti-Giga Berlin protesters attacked a Tesla store in central Berlin earlier this week. The motive for the protest was apparently Giga Berlin’s high water consumption levels. The destruction of a local forest to make way for Giga Berlin was seemingly another reason.
Protesters threw paint bombs against the exterior of the store and also stuck posters with anti-Tesla messages on its walls. One of the posters read "Driving For A Dead Planet" - a jibe at the environmental cost of producing a lithium-ion BEV.
The protesters demanded increased public transport funding. As opposed to backing Tesla, they called for the German government to instead offer "well-developed and free public transport for everyone in Berlin and Brandenburg". They also issued the following statement (via Teslarati):
“The repeated environmental violations of the US corporation during the construction and expansion of the gigafactory in #Grünheide and the robbing of valuable #Wasser |s in our region are criminal… Neo-colonialism during #Lithium mining in the Atacama Desert in #Chile destroys the livelihoods of the people in the assisted areas. No more liter of water for Tesla!”
Giga Berlin has been in operation since March 2022 and currently produces over 4,000 Model Y crossovers per week. As car factories go, it's relatively sustainable with a lot of its power coming from solar and wind energy. It also doesn't use that much water given its ginormous size, despite what the Berlin protesters are claiming.
Moreover, a recent report claimed Tesla would require no extra water when Giga Berlin production doubles. The report claims the automaker will be able to use the same water consumption it currently does when it's making one million EVs per annum.
