The Hidden Side of Tesla's Success - Thousands of Unsold Cars Stored on Former Military Airfield
Entrance to the Tesla factory in Grünheide. Three weeks ago, the residents of Grünheide voted against the removal of 247 acres of forest for expansion of Tesla’s site in a citizens’ decision. Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa
The electric cars are set to be transported daily by hundreds of car transporters to a former East German military airfield in Neuhardenberg. This is according to a report by the “Berliner Zeitung” newspaper, which followed the car transporters. Since there is no more space at the factory in Grünheide, the corporation, led by CEO Elon Musk, moves the cars around the clock to Neuhardenberg. This is located approximately 37 miles away and can accommodate up to 5,000 vehicles.
“We counted 40 car transporters per hour in the village”
“We have counted 40 car transporters per hour in the village, 300 to 400 trips a day,” says a local resident of the municipality of Gusow-Platkow to the “Berliner Zeitung”. Mayor Mario Eska of the SPD says: “We hope that Tesla will soon move to the former Fürstenwalde airfield. But that is currently not legally possible.”
According to Tesla, the former East German military airfield is used for sorting the vehicles and subsequent further delivery. The company also regularly scouts for other locations, but so far without success.
Recently, the residents of Grünheide voted against an expansion of the Tesla factory in a citizens’ survey. Much to the annoyance of Gernot Schmid, the district administrator of Märkisch-Oderland “We are paying the price for the non-expansion of the Tesla factory on our roads!”