- Title: People queuing to enter Tesla factory on Gruenheide for big county fair
- Date: 9th October 2021
- Summary: GRUENHEIDE, GERMANY (OCTOBER 9, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING (TO GET ONTO COMPOUND) TESLA SIGN ON CAR TESLA CARS VARIOUS OF TESLA FAN (SOUNDBITE) (German) TESLA FAN FRED SCHROEDER, SAYING: "This day is unique. The Tesla factory in Germany will be opened to the public for the first time. That is a very special day. I have been Tesla fan since 2014 and have ordered my first car in 2016. This is why I have to be here." TESLA SIGN IN JUMPER (SOUNDBITE) (German) TESLA FAN FRED SCHROEDER, SAYING: "The tour will be the most interesting thing. It will be 1 1/2 hours and go through the entire factory. We can see that production facilities. Of course, not all of them are completed and things will be missing, like for instance the container with the cooling and equipment liquids will not be installed yet and so on. But I expect at least one production line for the model Y already in place. And that will be most interesting." TESLA SIGN ON CAP TICKET FOR TESLA COUNTY FAIR VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING PEOPLE ENTERING (SOUNDBITE) (German) TESLA FAN KARSTEN KLEES, SAYING: "I have no idea (what to expect). Just having a look. I'm from the area and just wanting to have a look what they are building here." PEOPLE ENTERING (SOUNDBITE) (German) TESLA FAN MARTIN HUND, SAYING: "(I expect) a nice meeting with friends. and lots of news of the factory." (SOUNDBITE) (German) TESLA FAN PETER SCHILG, SAYING: "Yes. The facility visit. To see what has been built so far. So we can draw conclusions whether we can see the first car leaving this factory this year already." (SOUNDBITE) (German) LOCAL RESIDENT WERNER MUELLER, SAYING: "The technology is very interesting, how the car is being built, what the actual production steps are. And to see some familiar faces from the Tesla family." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT THE ENTRANCE SMALL PROTEST ON FACTORY , PLACARD READING (German) STOP TESLA - SAVE OUR DRINKING WATER MORE OF PROTEST (SOUNDBITE) (German) SPOKESPERSON CITIZENS' INITIATIVE, MANU HOYER, SAYING: "Well, we have set up an information stand in order to suggest to the residents the environmental catastrophe about to happen here. And we have been fighting against it (Tesla factory) since 2019 and succeed in throwing some spanners in the works. What you see here is really an illegal construction. Because it all happened without a building permit. It is the biggest environmental disaster what is happening here." READING MATERIAL ON INFORMATION STAND (SOUNDBITE) (German) SPOKESPERSON CITIZENS' INITIATIVE, MANU HOYER, SAYING: "I would tell him to stop building electrocars but rather fly to Mars. That way he does not ruin the environment on our planet." MORE OF PROTEST STREET SIGN, READING (German) GATE 3 - WATER PROTECTION AREA FERRIS WHEEL AND CHERRY PICKERS CARS AT GATE 3 PART OF FACTORY VARIOUS OF BUILDING SITE BUS WITH WRITING 'TESLA CLUB AUSTRIA' AND BUILDING SITE
- Embargoed: 23rd October 2021 12:26
- Keywords: Gruenheide Tesla environmentt protest residents
- Location: GRUENHEIDE, GERMANY
- City: GRUENHEIDE, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Europe,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001EYFRLFR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Flashing lights, booming speakers, sprawling stages and a Ferris wheel have transformed Tesla's car factory near Berlin into a county fair for a one-day festival on Saturday to be hosted by CEO Elon Musk.
The festival, expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors, with locals from Brandenburg state given priority, started at 10am local time (0800 GMT) but will go on late into the night, with bands and DJs due to "keep the party going," the official event website said.
"Giga Berlin-Brandenburg fun party today!" Musk tweeted in German shortly after it began, and then joked with a Twitter follower who replied to correct his German.
Musk hopes in coming weeks to get the green light to start production at the site, which at its peak will produce 500,000 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) a year - more than double Germany's BEV production in 2020.
The company has also submitted plans to invest 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in a battery plant with 50 GWh capacity next to the site, outstripping Volkswagen's planned 40GWh capacity site in Salzgitter.
While Tesla has repeatedly said the site will bring Germany significantly closer to achieving its e-mobility goals, some locals and environmental groups are unhappy with the Tesla CEO's disruptive approach which they say flies in the face of German business culture.
The latest consultation on public concerns towards the site closes on October 14, after which the environmental ministry will decide whether to reject or approve it. Brandenburg's economy minister has pinned chances of approval at 95%.
Visitors attending the event posted videos from tours of the factory showing production line robots giving choreographed displays. Others highlighted the electric buses on which they were taken to the festival site.
Musk, however, has not yet made an appearance.
Tesla received approval from local authorities to have 9,000 people on site at a time despite pandemic-related curbs limiting large gatherings to 5,000, after it presented a plan for how it would keep the event COVID safe, authorities said.
Attendees were given a time-slot for a 1.5-hour tour of the factory, and must provide proof of a negative COVID-test, vaccination or recovery, according to the entry ticket.
(Production: Oliver Ellrodt, Claudia Doerries, Ute Swart) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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