Tesla needs to get humping on German plant before local wildlife enters mating season
Tesla's German plant needs to get it on, or face a nine-month delay from animals doing so.
Tesla is in a race against the clock to begin construction of its planned German Gigafactory before local wildlife gets down to business.
According to German environmental regulations, the electric carmaker must begin construction before March, when mating season begins. That makes February crunch time for Tesla to file all the proper paperwork and begin logging on the rural site near Berlin. German newspaper Handelsblatt first reported the news on Friday, as spotted by Bloomberg.
If Tesla doesn't meet this deadline, breeding season will reportedly push construction back nine months. The plant's location has already stirred some controversy since Gigafactory 4 will border a nature reserve. Tesla wants to produce 500,000 cars annually at the plant and take the fight to premium German automakers directly into their home nation.
There are more wildlife concerns here, however. The automaker will need to shoo local wolves, bats, lizards and more until construction is completed. Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Breeding season is yet another hurdle the electric carmaker needs to clear, as local officials started clearing WWII-era explosives from the site. Numerous US-dropped explosives were detected in the area Tesla plans to build on, and according to the German newspaper, experts have removed most of them already for diffusing.
The German factory comes as Tesla exits a banner year in 2019. The firm delivered a record number of vehicles and beat Wall Street expectations with its financials. The automaker also began production at its Chinese facility, its first foreign production plant, though coronavirus fears have led to a shutdown of the plant until Feb. 9.
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