Tesla’s Elon Musk feted by German chancellor hopeful
Elon Musk visited Tesla 'gigafactory' site alongside Armin Laschet
Where are Elon Musk, Tesla at White House EV announcement?
Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins explains why Tesla is missing in action at the president's address.
Tesla, Inc. co-founder Elon Musk met with Germany's front-runner candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet on Friday at the electric automaker's "Gigafactory" construction site near Berlin.
TESLA'S ELON MUSK REITERATES SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES
The billionaire said he hopes to begin production at the Gruenheide facility in October.
Tesla had initially planned to begin manufacturing in July, but legal problems and issues with permitting led to delays.
Germany's center-right candidate to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor in the upcoming elections and Christian Democratic Union chairman, Armin Laschet, right, talks to Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, during a visit at the construction site of the Tesla Gigaf (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP)
"We’re looking forward to hopefully getting the approval to make the first cars, maybe in October if we’re fortunate," Musk told reporters.
"Giga Berlin-Brandenburg county fair & factory tour on 9 October!" the SpaceX founder later tweeted, noting that while there would be priority access for Berlin and Brandenburg residents it would be open to the general public.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Laschet, the center-right Union bloc's candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in the country's September election, thanked Musk for his business in Germany.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chairman reportedly also suggested that German laws should be changed to complicate the efforts of those not directly impacted by the factory's construction to file legal complaints against it.
That said, victims of communism in East Germany have criticized the decision to allocate a subsidy of nearly $10 million to Tesla for Gigafactory infrastructure costs from a trust fund managing what remains of the regime’s fortune.
Instead, groups like UOKG argued, the money should go toward building schools, homes for the elderly, daycare centers or memorials for victims of the communist dictatorship.
In response to a Teslarati tweet citing a report saying public opposition to the plant was declining, Musk wrote Wednesday: "It's gonna be awesome,"
Christian Democratic Union Chairman Armin Laschet and Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, at the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide near Berlin, Germany, Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP)
Berlin’s Tagesspiegel newspaper reported on Thursday that Merkel would step in to assist Laschet for an Aug. 21 campaign event as he continues to sink in the polls, with the Social Democrats and the Greens not far behind.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
Laschet, the front-runner and also the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state, has been in hot water lately and has been forced to apologize — once for failing to credit a source in his 2009 book about immigration and just days later after being seen laughing as Merkel delivered a statement on the devastating floods in western Germany that killed more than 200 people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.