Tesla Withdraws Application For $1.3 Billion In Subsidies For Its German Gigafactory

Tesla is officially giving up on $1.3 billion in German subsidies it had hoped for, officially withdrawing an application for state-sponsored funding, according to Yahoo News.

The subsidies were supposed to be for the EV manufacturer’s new battery-cell plant it is setting up, Tagesspiegel newspaper reported. The plant is being set up in Brandenburg, close to Berlin. 

“Germany’s Economy Ministry had already approved the aid package as per the European Union’s IPCEI battery-innovation program,” Bloomberg wrote Friday morning. 

Details were sparse as to why the application was pulled. A spokesperson for the economy ministry said: “Tesla continues to stick to its plans for the battery factory in the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, but will do without state IPCEI funding.”

Recall, this summer, we commented on the ongoing war between Tesla and German environmentalists who were trying to prevent the erection of the plant. 

German environmentalist groups Green League and NABU officially filed complaints against the company earlier this year, looking to block provisional approvals necessary for the construction of the factory.

As if the irony of Tesla’s planned getting bulldozed by groups looking to preserve the environment wasn’t rich enough, the action came after deficiencies were discovered in how Tesla may deal with environmental hazards at its forthcoming plant. “…A recent accident report warned Tesla wasn’t sufficiently prepared with regard to the possibility of exploding gas clouds and the escape of irritant gas in the factory’s paint shop,” Bloomberg reported.

We noted back in early May that the factory could be delayed due to legal woes lodged by environmentalists. Since announcing plans for expansion in 2019, Tesla’s proposed factory in Berlin has been “torpedoed by environmental regulations, unexploded WW2 bombs and labor laws,” according to the The Daily Mail.