Tesla, whose market capitalization is skyrocketing, has made difficulties in building a German factory.

Since the beginning of this year, Tesla's market capitalization has risen by more than 600 billion US dollars, making it by far the most valuable car company in the world. At the same time, Musk has become the second richest man in the world, surpassing even Microsoft founder Bill Gates in personal wealth. However, Tesla and Musk, who braved the wind and waves all the way, encountered difficulties in building a German super factory. From project approval and recruitment matters, to a forest, a bat and a snake, are hindering the normal construction of the factory, Tesla is really too difficult.

To build a factory, we need to "go through five hurdles and kill six generals".

The construction of the first European factory near Berlin in Germany gave Tesla the coveted "made in Germany" label, but the move also meant the company had to abide by local rules. Whether Tesla can obtain various approvals for construction depends on the conditional approval of the local authorities.

From the beginning of the construction, obtaining the forest clearance permit, to the second permit related to preparatory ground works and excavation, and to the third step obtaining the preliminary permission of the Environmental Protection Bureau, Tesla was able to carry out foundation construction. It can be said that every new stage of Tesla factory construction needs to apply for permission.

It is well known that Tesla started construction without final permission because the company was able to continue construction with a personal permit. But now, Tesla has encountered new difficulties. In early November, according to German media reports, due to the lack of permission to further clear the forest and build a paint workshop, "Tesla was unable to continue to build his plant in Berlin, Germany, as planned."

Tesla has been involved in environmental audits, which is a time-consuming process in a country that pays attention to details. In early October, Tesla set aside three days to listen to local residents and critics on the factory, but the consultation process lasted eight days, and Tesla received a total of 414 complaints and opinions.

Local residents are worried that the Tesla super factory will pose a serious threat to local water supplies after it starts producing batteries. Some organizations even claim that there are signs of drought and that water shortages are becoming more and more frequent, so they hope that Tesla can ensure that water consumption is limited. In response, Tesla agreed to reduce water consumption from 3.3 million cubic meters to 1.4 million cubic meters.

In addition, the EPA also stipulates that all Tesla's construction work must be carried out above the aquifer, which can protect drinking water from chemicals or other potentially harmful materials; vehicles under construction on the site must refuel outside the drinking water protection zone; and noise monitoring will be carried out in the site area to ensure that construction personnel comply with local regulations. If one requirement is not up to standard, the construction of Tesla's factory may be delayed.

To build a factory, we should not only plant trees, but also wait for bats and snakes to hibernate.

When the decision to build the plant was announced in November, Musk planned to start construction in early 2020 and start production in the summer of 2021. At that time, Musk did not realize how difficult it was to "make trouble" in Germany! Tesla's German factory has had a lot of hard-core problems since the beginning of its construction.

At the beginning of the construction of the factory, there were media reports that the site of Tesla's German factory was suspected to contain World War II-era ammunition-especially air-dropped bombs from the United States. Many major battles were fought in the region during World War II, including the Battle of Xilo Heights in the months before the end of World War II. As a result, Tesla's cleaning team also scanned the site for undetonated bombs while working at the construction site.

Secondly, to build a factory, it is necessary to clear the forest and cut down a large number of trees. It is reported that the red area in the picture below is the forest area that Tesla needs to cut down. The large area of forest was naturally opposed by local environmentalists, and hundreds of protesters held a hui, to declare that Tesla's factory would pose a threat to local wildlife and water supplies. Several environmental protection organizations submitted an urgent application to the court to prohibit Tesla from cutting down the forest. although the court finally rejected the environmental protection group's application, Tesla had to promise to plant three times the number of trees cut down.

(photo Source: Tesla)

After that, the forest could be cut down, but there were many animals living in the forest, including an endangered bat, which Tesla had to move. The local nature conservation society says Tesla needs special permission to relocate bats. It was the beginning of this year, when the animals were hibernating, and Tesla was ordered not to disturb the animals until they woke up from hibernation.

It was thought that the bat problem was solved and Tesla could move forward with the forest clearance work smoothly, but last week, a German court told Tesla to suspend forest clearance at the site of the factory, because environmentalists said: currently, slippery snakes may be hibernating underground, and tree felling activities may disturb their hibernation; in addition, Tesla's expansion may pose a threat to sand lizards. Because of this, Tesla was ordered twice last week to stop the construction of the factory.

Problems such as planting trees and relocating animals are not problems that can be solved by funds and construction teams. what is needed is time, and time is precisely the most precious thing for Tesla, who wants to promote construction quickly.

It is still a problem to recruit people after the factory is built.

Earlier this year, Musk thought it would be easy to recruit staff for the Berlin factory. After all, people around the world want to join Tesla. Musk once said, "they all want some of Tesla's magic dust." But the reality gave Musk a hard slap in the face, and the German response to Tesla's recruitment was no longer welcome, even a little cold.

Tesla must hire as many as 7000 people as soon as possible, as the Berlin factory plans to take the first cars offline as early as July next year. By the end of 2022, Tesla must add another 5000 employees to increase production. Now, with about eight months to go before the Berlin plant starts production, Tesla still needs to recruit more than 5000 production workers and more than 100 engineers. Tesla has been looking for suitable employees around the world, and Musk even attended interviews in person and participated in a promotional "blitzkrieg" campaign, signing autographs and posing for selfies to speed up the recruitment process.

A survey conducted by Civey, a Berlin pollster, showed that 36 per cent of respondents thought Tesla was an attractive employer, but 32 per cent thought the opposite. Surprisingly, nearly 1/3 of people are reluctant to answer this question.

One of the main reasons for Tesla's difficulty in recruiting is that the employees who work in Tesla are under great pressure. According to a source from the local government employment agency, the most important quality of working in Tesla is resilience and flexibility, and the company is an important measure of whether employees work harder during peak hours.

In addition, Tesla's work can also be called an extreme challenge to some extent. In 2018, Wired Magazine (Wired Magazine) wrote in an article entitled "Dr. Elon and Mr. Musk,"when Musk is in a bad mood, he likes to fire employees." Incoming managers are either under pressure to leave immediately or are fired by Musk. A few weeks ago, the director in charge of plant construction in Berlin had to leave Tesla because he had an argument with Musk at the meeting, which Musk could not tolerate.

Another reason for Tesla's difficulty in recruiting is that it is not difficult for employees with the skills the company needs to find jobs in other companies. Jan Mueller of Korn / Ferry International Manpower Consulting said, "it is not easy to recruit experts who are proficient in digital technology, and such people can find jobs quickly even during the epidemic." Why would a person who works 35 hours a week, 30 days of vacation a year and a good salary at BMW change his job to Tesla, who has to work 80 hours a week with less salary and holidays? "

Even if it is difficult to recruit new employees, "iron-made soldiers of running water in the camp" (high employee mobility) is another major feature of Tesla. According to feedback from employees who have been employed in the Berlin factory, the local working environment is cold, the work organization is chaotic, many places are chaotic, and employees are depressed. It is reported that the manager of Tesla's foundry department and another construction manager have left, and 10 engineers in charge of building the factory have also chosen to leave after the end of the probation period.

Tesla still has a "difficult bone" after the operation of the factory.

After Tesla's German factory is put into production, he may have to deal with one group, that is, IG Metall. IG Metall is Germany's largest automobile manufacturing union, with more than 2.3 million employees and plays an important role in every German carmaker.

At present, Tesla is not bound by collective bargaining agreements in Germany, but IG Metall hopes to change that. Last month, Tesla angered the IG Metall union by hiring a former Mercedes-Benz plant manager, which could put Tesla back in a unionized situation in Germany, Bloomberg reported.

Birgit Dietze, regional manager of IG Metall Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony, said: "We are in contact with the trade union organizations where Tesla's other factories are located, so we are fully aware of the personal complaints, legal condemnation and complaints against Tesla. We can see this as a microcosm of Tesla's future performance in Glendenburg. "

Joerg Steinbach, the economy minister of the German state of Brandenburg, also said that Tesla should accept collective bargaining, which Musk did not want because Musk had already clashed with trade unions over his Nevada factory in the United States. It is reported that, IG Metall has contacted Tesla to discuss the collective regulations on employees' wages and working conditions, but has not received a reply from Tesla.

Tesla believes that his employees would be better off without a trade union because the company believes that it has an organization that helps them succeed and that every employee is entitled to stock options. The two sides are at odds with each other, and both are tough, so Tesla is expected to compete further with IG Metall after the plant is in operation.

Nothing is more important to Musk now than to finish the construction of the new factory on time next summer. But company insiders estimate that the completion of the Berlin plant could be delayed by three to six months in the worst case because of planning problems and a lack of staff. But another insider disagreed, saying: "Musk would never allow that to happen. In July 2021, the factory will take off a whole car anyway, no matter how it is built."