Tesla Inc (TSLA)

[Scumbag Fraudsters]

German magazine makes demolishing report about Tesla's factory in Grünheide

Before the Grünheide facility started its operations, I covered the concerns of area residents who feared they would be left with no water to drink should any leaks happen in the factory. They were dismissed as hippies who did not want the region to have a modern factory from the world's most valuable carmaker. Not even warnings from the Wasserverband Strausberg-Erkner (Strausberg-Erkner Water Association, or WSE) helped. Stern revealed that at least 26 spills, fires, and other incidents that could affect water reserves have happened at the plant.

Among the 26 potentially hazardous events that happened at the Tesla factory in Grünheide, one involves an illegal fuel station that the American BEV maker hid for months under a white party tent. Before that, Tesla only used tents to build cars.

As ironic as this is, the fact is that 250 liters of diesel leaked on May 4, 2023. That happened when a truck driver tried to refuel and shortly left the illegal station after inserting the nozzle into the tank. When he got back, the nozzle had dropped and was spilling diesel "uncontrollably" on the ground. The authorities only discovered the hidden fuel station on July 21, ordering its removal. There's no word about fines or other legal consequences for Tesla.

When it comes to employee safety, the Stern team discovered that these folks get hurt every day in Tesla's German factory. Considering the company's records in its home country, that is hardly a surprise. A 2019 investigation revealed that the Fremont factory was three times more likely to violate health and safety work regulations than the other ten largest American factories combined. Tesla was also accused of concealing work accidents. Whenever one happened, the affected employee had to reach the hospital by taxi or Uber. That made ambulance requirements drop. In other words, the company could argue the accident had nothing to do with the work environment.

There are pretty dark reports of what happens at Giga Grünheide. Stern talked to Tayfur Karaboga, a former Tesla worker who lost his job after warning about safety risks in his activity. In January, Karaboga was told to turn a workshop into a final assembly hall. That would demand him to move a power outlet. To perform that safely, he would need to turn off power in that workshop, but he had no clearance to do so. His shift supervisor told him to do that with the power on. Predictably. Karaboga was electrocuted. Luckily, he's still alive. The former worker also reported hearing "booming alarm sirens and frequent emergency calls" all the time.

Jörg Schneider is another former Tesla employee that Stern interviewed. Ironically, he was a shift manager and had to care for 50 workers. He said people used to collapse from exhaustion at the final assembly hall. Karaboga reported the same thing, which confirms the report PingWest wrote about Giga Shanghai. The Chinese outlet compared the factory to a modern sweatshop and was sued by Tesla. As a result, the story is no longer online, but you can still find copies around the internet. Schneider said that people are getting hurt at Tesla and that he never saw any other company work so ruthlessly. There are reports of electric shocks (such as the one Karaboga endured), scalding, hydrochloric acid, amputated limbs, and a long etcetera.

According to the German magazine, Giga Grünheide had 247 ambulance or helicopter requests only in its first operation year. Considering it was officially opened on March 22, 2022, that would be 247 incidents for 285 days if the plant worked all weekends. Exclude them and German holidays, and you'll end with 247 emergencies in 195 days (1.27 per day). From June to November of last year alone, 190 work accidents happened. Divided by 126 working days, that's 1.51 cases daily. Stern related that to the number of employees and concluded that this is three times as many occurrences in the same time frame as Audi had at its Ingolstadt plant. To make matters worse, all the people the German magazine interviewed said the factory's air is impregnated with aluminum dust. This substance is considered hazardous.

Exposure to this dust can cause "metal fume fever," which has symptoms similar to those caused by flu, as well as a metallic taste in the mouth. In more severe cases, it can lead to pulmonary fibrosis. Aluminum production is carcinogenic, even if the metal itself isn't. Giga Grünheide workers said the dust settles in their noses, ears, and lungs. Tesla could avoid that with industrial suction hoods. The German factory has some, but not enough. Sick leaves at the factory are frequent.

If none of that makes you wonder about buying a Tesla, Stern warns about how it all affects the products. Workers told the German magazine that the pressure to deliver more and more units is an effort to drive Tesla's share prices up. One of the helpers in the final assembly line said they were instructed to omit a screw for the holder of an airbag if the vehicles just passed too quickly through their station. It would be a measure to save time. Tinkerers among us will probably want to check their made-in-Germany Model Y units afterward. This rush to deliver vehicles, no matter what, explains thin and peeling paint, detaching steering wheels, panel gaps, and even more severe issues such as motor failures.

One of the two Stern reporters who worked at Giga Grünheide said she was in the motor production department. Once, the machines produced several defective components that the quality inspector "only partially sorted out" – even after saying: "We only produced scrap parts today." In other words, these defective parts are in some vehicles because there is a target for a certain quantity of components that has to be met at all costs. Too bad customers may end up paying for that.

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