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Multiple bombs belonging to the United States were found at the future site of Tesla’s first European factory near Berlin, Germany. The bombs must now be collected and defused by explosives experts before work can continue at the construction site.
According to a report by Reuters, local authorities claimed to have found a total of seven U.S. bombs dating back to World War II in the town of Grünheide, which is approximately one hour east of Berlin. Each of the bombs weighs approximately 110 pounds, which puts the total weight of the explosives found near the 800-pound mark, meaning that the duds pose a serious danger to construction workers and the immediate surrounding area.
As wild as it may sound to most folks, especially in the United States, finding dormant explosives isn’t all that rare in Germany and throughout most of Europe. Millions of bombs have been dropped across the old continent throughout its many wars, in addition to many more landmines that are still buried underground—something that makes new construction sites considerably high-risk places.
Tesla’s new Gigafactory 4 aims to give Germany’s established automakers like VW, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW a run for their money in the EV segment, despite these companies being considerably behind in terms of bringing electric cars to market in recent years.
The American automaker also owns facilities in the states of Nevada and New York, where Gigafactories 1 and 2 sit, and is currently building Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, China. Gigafactory 4 in Germany is expected to start producing cars sometime in 2021, which isn’t all too far from now, but given Tesla’s timeliness and its current bomb problem it’s unclear when construction will end, let alone when production will begin.
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