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The Tesla corporation can be a bit tone-deaf. But this latest move may take the cake. Tesla is clearcutting a forest to expand its German factory–despite local residents voting against the move. At the same time, Musk announced a “mega rave cave” with ” “an epic sound system and woofers the size of a car” opening in the complex, for employees only. The two projects aren’t necessarily connected, but the timing adds insult to injury.

Many folks in Berlin consider the rave scene a major part of the city’s culture. And some are growing sick of corporations finding various ways to commodify it. So not everyone was thrilled when Musk posted a poll to his personal X (Twitter) account reading “Y/N: Tesla should have a mega rave cave under the Berlin Gigafactory.” But it was a worldwide poll and 90.2% of respondents said “Yes.”

Musk later specified, “With an epic sound system & woofers the size of a car” in a comment. He also said that Rammstein was invited.

Berlin’s Clubcomission tried to be diplomatic about the publicity move. “In the past, we have unfortunately found that companies have used [Berlin’s] cultural offerings to recruit employees, but then have themselves become a displacer of these creative spaces. In this respect, Tesla has shown good instincts here and we hope this commitment can be extended.”

At the same time, Tesla bought a 250-acre forest next door to its factory and announced plans to clearcut the space. The automaker said it wanted to expand the production capability of its only European factory from 500k vehicles annually to 1 million. It also said it was building a loading dock and “logistics” parking lot for recently completed vehicles.

The factory is about five miles from Berlin city limits, in the small town of Grünheide. In a non-binding referendum, 76% of residents requested Tesla find existing industrial land to expand and leave the forest alone. Europe has less wilderness area than the U.S., so forests are especially valuable. But Tesla said it was going ahead with the project.

Local protestors took to the trees, even erecting treehouses to keep Tesla from logging. In March, a group of protestors lit a power line pole on fire to cut electricity to the Tesla plant. In May, a group of environmental activists stormed the site, despite local police trying to stop them. Then on July 4th, the local government admitted it could not legally stop Tesla. It told the company to begin construction, “at its own risk.”

The same week, Tesla’s Manufacturing dropped a short teaser video introducing the completed employees only “Rave Cave” at its German factory. It has alternatively called the space a “Giga Rave Cave” and a “Hamster Club Rave Cave.”

This isn’t Musk’s first stunt like this. He turned SpaceX headquarters into a carnival at one point. And the German factory already has a huge slide. From the teaser video, it’s unclear how large the Rave Cave is. The video only shows a hallway that looks like something out of Star Wars, and then a DJ and closeups of a few people dancing. You can see it embedded below:

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Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.