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Drunk inventors caught cruising in car-pool

German police were left speechless at the weekend when they stopped a group of inventive revellers cruising around town in a unique swimming-pool-car of their own creation - sloshing water onto the pavement at every turn.

Drunk inventors caught cruising in car-pool
Photo: Polizei Chemnitz

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in Eibenstock near Chemnitz, southern Saxony, as a lone police sergeant made his rounds on his motorbike, the local force said in a statement.

Suddenly, he saw the strangest-looking convertible he’d ever seen – a roofless BMW, without registration plates, bordered around the open top with wooden boards and fake plastic flowers. It was also full of water.

Aside from the driver, the car held three young males clad only in swimming trunks – one of whom was lolling on the boot with his feet dangling down into the vehicle. All of them appeared drunk, the police said.

The sergeant turned back to get a closer look, and ended up chasing the BMW as it sped off into a car park – losing much of its liquid load as it went.

The young men brought their invention to a halt and jumped out, fleeing across a nearby dry riverbed to watch proceedings from the safety of the opposite bank.

The policeman found the men had hollowed out the inside of the car, sealed and waterproofed it, before painting it blue and filling it with water.

Concerned that the men would try to reclaim their “car-pool” and make a getaway, the sergeant let the air out of the tyres, disconnected the spark plug leads and waited for backup to arrive as crowds of curious onlookers began to appear.

Eventually the driver returned to fetch his belongings from the boot. The visibly intoxicated 27-year-old, who insisted he hadn’t been driving the unregistered vehicle, was allowed to recover his shoes and wallet – in exchange for a blood sample.

Police said they were investigating the man on suspicion of drink-driving and of driving an uninsured, unregistered vehicle.

Even legal experts seemed baffled as to which or how many other traffic laws the drivable-pool-project may have violated.

DPA/The Local/jlb

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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