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Berlin, March 4 (AFP\/APP): After a series of administrative delays, US electric car pioneer Tesla is on the verge of receiving the go-ahead from German authorities on Friday to begin production at its “giga-factory” outside Berlin.<\/p>\n
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Officials in the eastern state of Brandenburg, where the factory is located, look set to confirm their approval at a press conference in Potsdam at 3:30 pm (1430 GMT), according to local reports.<\/p>\n
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The plant, in Grueneheide, to the southeast of Berlin, is slated to produce 500,000 vehicles a year.<\/p>\n
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Announced with much fanfare in November 2019, the project was warmly received by politicians in a country proud of its car-making tradition.<\/p>\n
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Elon Musk’s Tesla benefited from an expedited preliminary approval process, allowing it to begin construction before receiving the final planning permission.<\/p>\n
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But the American manufacturer’s early momentum was broken by a series of legal and administrative difficulties, in part prompted by angry locals with concerns over the environmental impact of the site.<\/p>\n
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Together with national NGOs Nabu and Gruene Liga, residents did everything to stand in the way of the project, organising protests, making court appeals and writing open letters.<\/p>\n
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In 2020, courts ordered Tesla to stop work at the site after a complaint by local associations fearing the destruction of the habitat of endangered lizards and snakes.<\/p>\n
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The plant’s massive demand for water was also a sore point for residents in an area that has been hit by summer droughts in the last three years.<\/p>\n
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On Friday, judges could also hand down a decision in a case brought against the local administration, which plans to pump out more water to use at the plant.<\/p>\n
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Under pressure from environmentalists, authorities were careful to examine the case closely, delaying the arrival of planning permission.<\/p>\n
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Setbacks also gave Tesla the opportunity to amend its application, adding a massive yet-to-be-built battery plant next to the main factory.<\/p>\n
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Concerns over the build were dismissed by Tesla’s rockstar CEO Musk, who sought to win over locals by hosting a country fair on the factory grounds in October.<\/p>\n
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Thousands were in attendance at the event, where Musk declared his intention to begin production in November or December of this year.<\/p>\n
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The earlier target may have been achieved were it not for the extension of a public consultation deadline from mid-October to the end of November due to an administrative error.<\/p>\n
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“Seriously??!!” was the tweet Musk sent in response to the new delay, having already voiced his frustration at Germany’s slow bureaucratic processes on several occasions.<\/p>\n
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– Works council –<\/p>\n
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Had approval for the plant not been given, the costs for dismantling the work that had been done would have fallen on Tesla.<\/p>\n
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Production at the factory should begin almost immediately with Tesla having already made a “limited” number of vehicles in a test, a spokesman told AFP.<\/p>\n
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Tesla’s next challenge is to find workers, while businesses in Germany are contending with shortages of skilled labour.<\/p>\n
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What employees there are at the factory have seen to the organisation of a works council, against the American carmaker’s protestations.<\/p>\n
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The shop-floor organisation is common to German industries, and hands workers a degree of influence over corporate decision-making.<\/p>\n
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Elections to the works council, which took place at the end of February, were nonetheless won by representatives of “Gigavoice”, which is closer to management.<\/p>\n
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Currently between 2,500 and 3,000 people work at the plant, according to union sources, primarily more senior members of staff.<\/p>\n
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In time, the figure should rise to 12,000, according to local press reports, a figure which has not been confirmed by Tesla.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Berlin, March 4 (AFP\/APP): After a series of administrative delays, US electric car pioneer Tesla is on the verge of receiving the go-ahead from German authorities on Friday to begin production at its “giga-factory” outside Berlin. Officials in the eastern state of Brandenburg, […]<\/p>\n
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