Tesla faces hurdle in Germany as locals vote to oppose factory expansion

Electric vehicle maker Tesla failed to secure a vote among locals in favor of authorizing a major factory expansion for the company's battery and car assembly plant in Brandenburg, Germany.

German state-owned broadcaster DW first reported on the vote and that Tesla needed to cut down approximately "250 acres of forest in the rural 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 could help Tesla avoid reliance on other logistics providers including existing freight rail and help them avoid production pauses due to parts shortages.

The vote is nonbinding, according to The New York Times, which reported that local officials would try to find another solution.

The German factory temporarily halted production for approximately two weeks earlier this year with executives citing a local component shortage, caused or exacerbated by Houthi militant attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Tesla reported that this facility, which it refers to as its Berlin-Brandenburg site, has an annual capacity to produce 375,000 of the company's Model Y vehicles. The company also said in its most recent quarterly filing that its international manufacturing facilities, including in Germany, allow Tesla "to increase the affordability" of its vehicles for customers 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