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CULTURE

‘Not a club you want to visit’: How Berliners are reacting to Tesla’s new nightclub

A new techno club opened inside the Tesla factory just outside Berlin's city limits. A number of employees have celebrated the opening online, but local clubgoers are more sceptical.

Published: 11 July 2024 15:53 CEST
Tesla's hamster club
A from inside Tesla's new 'Hamster' club, as seen in a video shared by the company. Photo: gigafactories/X

Tesla’s German manufacturing plant – the so-called Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory – is now equipped with a techno club, which opened this week according to information shared by employees.

The opening of the club was first announced by factory manager André Thierig, who shared a video on LinkedIn, which has since been shared by Tesla on X.

The name of the club is ‘Hamster’. The Hamster is “now alive,” Thierig wrote on X.

A company club in Berlin?

Berlin’s techno culture is world renowned and its clubs, which range from small underground bars with dance floors to massive multi-storied complexes, are a huge part of that. 

But today’s techno scene evolved from an underground and alternative movement, and some techno-heads take issue with efforts by mainstream, corporate actors to try and capitalise on it.

The irony of a company like Tesla trying to get involved with the techno party scene isn’t lost on Berliners.

A popular Instagram account, Berlinclubmemes, posted a series of memes about the club’s opening – most of which poke fun of the idea that the club would be full of tech workers.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by BerlinClubMemes (@berlinclubmemes)

In a comment on the post Berlin-based artist Adam Ghebremichael (@kang_mesmer) wrote, “If the first place you announce a club is on LinkedIn it’s definitely not a club you want to visit”.

Berlin-based artist (@patywapor) replied: “Berlin horror story season 1.”

Another commenter suggested Hamster was a “club that people would be happy to be rejected from”.

Even far flung techno-heads joined in. Truncate (@truncate_la), an LA-based techno artist wondered, “Who will be the first ‘Berlin techno’ DJ they will book 😂”.

Other commenters reflected on the time when Elon Musk had reportedly been rejected from Berlin’s famous Berghain club – a claim that was widely reported and later denied by Musk who suggested that he had instead “refused to enter”.

The club at Tesla was foreshadowed as early as 2020, leading up to the opening of the German factory, when Musk wrote, “Tesla should have a mega rave cave under the Berlin Gigafactory.” 

Can a club opening reboot Tesla’s image?

Hamster’s opening comes at a time when Tesla faces growing criticism that the company would rather shift news away from.

Locally, the company’s plan to expand its Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory sparked resistance from local residents and climate activists who are primarily concerned with water impacts. 

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

In mid-May a local council approved Tesla’s expansion plans despite a referendum by residents that had rejected the move just weeks earlier.

Also in Sweden, Tesla mechanics have been on strike since October in what has become the longest labour dispute in the country since the 1940s. Workers involved in the strike say Tesla has engaged in union busting tactics.

The company has so far refused to engage in collective bargaining, which is generally a standard practice in Sweden as well as Germany. 

Concerns about Tesla’s anti-union stance have caused a dozen different Swedish unions to join in solidarity actions, and has even spread to unions in Denmark and Germany. 

For example, IG Metall, the largest metal workers union in Germany, has reportedly gathered more than a thousand Tesla employees to commit themselves to potential union action.

German news outlets RTL and Stern have also reported on safety issues at the Tesla factory, finding that accidents happen almost every day in the German plant with workers suffering serious injuries.

Tesla hasn’t provided comment on these findings.

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ECONOMY

Tesla imports to face lower-rate EU tariffs in Germany than other China-made EVs

The European Commission announced plans Tuesday to impose an extra nine-percent tariff on Tesla's China-made electric cars, much lower than what Chinese firms face unless Beijing compromises in a trade row.

Published: 20 August 2024 16:19 CEST
Tesla imports to face lower-rate EU tariffs in Germany than other China-made EVs

Brussels last month slapped EVs imported from China with hefty provisional tariffs — on top of current duties of 10 percent — after an anti-subsidy probe found they were unfairly undermining European rivals.

Beijing vociferously opposes the EU tariffs, and has filed an appeal with the World Trade Organization — which Brussels has acknowledged while voicing confidence its measures are WTO-compatible.

On Tuesday the commission released a draft plan making the tariffs definitive, at slightly revised rates, subject to input from interested parties by end August, and to approval by EU member states by end October at the latest.

The rates faced by major Chinese manufacturers would be 17 percent for market leader BYD, tweaked downward from 17.4; 19.3 percent for Geely, down from 19.9; and 36.3 percent for SAIC, down from 37.6.

Other producers in China that cooperated with Brussels will face a tariff of 21.3 percent — revised slightly upwards from 20.8 — while those that did not would be subject to the maximum 36.3 percent duty.

Musk’s Tesla — which manufactures Model 3 and Model Y cars in China — had asked Brussels for its own duty rate, set at nine percent after the commission deemed that it received lower Chinese subsidies than domestic manufacturers.

The bulk of the benefits taken into consideration involve batteries being supplied to Tesla for less than market value, as well as land use provided below market value and various Chinese grants for exporting producers.

The European Commission also decided to grant European manufacturers involved in joint ventures that export EVs from China the rate applying to their Chinese partner firm.

European firms affected include Germany’s Volkswagen and BMW — which have expressed fears the EU tariffs could damage trade ties with China, where they have significant business interests.

Balancing act 

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) slammed the commission’s “protectionist approach” and “unfair use of trade tools” that would worsen trade tensions.

A European Commission official said the EU executive remained “open” to resolving the trade dispute without resorting to tariffs — but that the ball was in China’s camp.

“We consider that it’s very much up to China to come up with alternatives,” the official said.

Concerning the provisional duties companies have faced since July 5th, provided in the form of bank guarantees, the commission said it had determined it did not have legal grounds to collect the funds, which will be released once definitive measures take effect.

China and the EU have butted heads in recent years on a range of issues relating to trade, technology and national security.

The EU has launched a raft of probes targeting Chinese subsidies for solar panels, wind turbines and trains, while Beijing has begun its own investigations into imported European brandy and pork.

But Brussels faces a delicate balancing act as it tries to defend Europe’s crucial auto industry and pivot towards green growth while also averting a showdown with Beijing.

China’s emergence as an EV powerhouse stems in part from a targeted industrial strategy, with Beijing pouring vast state funds into domestic firms as well as research and development.

The approach has given Chinese firms a critical edge in the race to provide cheaper, more efficient EVs over leading European automakers, which have not always enjoyed such state largesse.

According to the Atlantic Council, Chinese sales of EVs abroad rose 70 percent in 2023, reaching $34.1 billion.

Almost 40 percent went to the European Union, the largest recipient of Chinese EVs.

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