Sleeping snakes stop Tesla German Gigafactory progress

A court has ordered Tesla to suspend forest clearing at its planned Berlin Gigafactory after environmentalists explained more tree removal could endanger snakes hibernating during the German winter.

The Landesumweltamt (state environmental authority) and Tesla will now be consulted, they need to make submissions and then the situation is assessed, a spokesman for the administrative court in Frankfurt an der Oder in eastern Germany says, Reuters reports.

Tesla aims to have Model Y SUV production running at the factory by July 1 next year.

Permission to start construction hinges on a conditional approval by local authorities, which must consult environmental groups and the community, Reuters adds.

But some members of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), one of the oldest (founded 1899) and largest (more than 770,000 members and sponsors) environmental associations in Germany, are concerned the smooth snake (coronella austriaca) may be disturbed hibernating at the site.

The non-venomous constrictor – widespread in northern and central Europe – includes sand lizards (lacerta agilis) in its diet, NABU concerned the lizards may be at risk too.

Tesla consulted with locals and potential factory critics in October, receiving 414 complaints and observations, according to Reuters, mainly around local water resources.

German daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel first reported Tesla had been ordered to suspend forest clearing.