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Berlin Senator calls Tesla “Nazi” cars, pisses off Brandenburg because Giga Berlin is a giant employer

Kiziltepe’s comment garnered so much negative attention that she ended up deleting her post.

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Credit: Cansel Kiziltepe/X

It is no secret that Elon Musk is a lightning rod for controversy today, especially with his work with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But as could be seen in Germany’s reactions to a Berlin Senator’s post on X, you can criticize the man, but you do not go for the thousands of people that Tesla employs.

Strike Against Tesla

As noted in an rbb24 report, Berlin’s Labor Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) ended up pissing off a lot of people, especially in Brandenburg, after she dubbed Teslas “Nazi” cars on social media platform X. In her post, Kiziltepe wrote, “Who wants to drive a Nazi car?” She also shared a news article that highlighted Tesla’s decline in Germany in the first quarter, titled “Electric Car Manufacturers Experience Sales Boom—Apart from Tesla.”

Kiziltepe’s Tesla comment garnered so much negative attention that she ended up deleting her post. She did, however, share a follow-up which explained that her sentiments against CEO Elon Musk do not extend to the thousands that Tesla employs, especially in Germany. 

“Tesla is currently experiencing a sales slump because customers attribute the right-wing extremist positions of its shareholder Elon Musk, who holds around 13% of the company. I explicitly stand by my assessment of Elon Musk. Of course, this does not mean that I hold Musk’s employees or customers responsible for his political positions,” the senator wrote in her post on X.

Brandenburg Backlash

A lot of the anger that resulted from Kiziltepe’s post came from other officials, such as Brandenburg’s Minister of Economic Affairs and SPD party colleague Daniel Keller. The official’s sentiments are understandable considering that Tesla Gigafactory Berlin is the largest employer in the region, providing jobs to thousands of people in the area. 

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“Such a Nazi comparison hurts the people who work there and is completely inappropriate for a labor senator. I expect the labor senator to retract her historically unacceptable comparison and return objectively to the major economic and labor market policy challenges that Berlin and Brandenburg should tackle together.

“Everyone can have their own personal opinion about Elon Musk. But it’s important to me that we don’t forget the people behind the Tesla factory in Grünheide. 11,000 people from 150 nations work here – more than half of the employees live in Berlin… Brandenburg and Berlin benefit from this in terms of employment and value creation,” Keller noted, highlighting that Giga Berlin provides well-paying, permanent jobs.

Equally Pissed Off

In a comment to the BZ newspaper, Brandenburg’s Minister-President Dietmar Woidke (SPD) stated that Kiziltepe’s comments were out of place, because in addition to the numerous Berliners who work at Giga Berlin, people from about 150 nations also work at the plant. Berlin CDU parliamentary group leader Dirk Stettner was more direct, stating that the Berlin Senator’s post was a “dangerous relativization of Nazi terror and thus also of the Holocaust.” 

The Berlin-Brandenburg Business Association (UVB) shared their frustrations with the senator as well, with General Manager Alexander Schirp stating that Kiziltepe’s comments were unbecoming of someone who sits at the Berlin Senate. Schirp also stated that the comments were an affront to Tesla employees. “This will not increase the manufacturer’s chances of investing in the capital. Statements of this magnitude do not bode well for the election campaign,” Keller stated.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Cybertruck

Tesla launches Cybertruck orders in a new market with a catch

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is launching Cybertruck orders in a new market, but there’s a bit of a catch.

The Cybertruck was launched in the Middle East earlier this year, as Tesla launched the ability to place a reservation for the all-electric pickup in the United Arab Emirates. It would be the first market outside of North America that would have the ability to place an order for the Cybertruck.

Tesla confirms Cybertruck will make its way out of North America this year

Other markets where the vehicle has been widely requested, like Europe and Asia, have still not approved the vehicle to be sold to the public, mostly because of size and design restrictions.

However, in the UAE, Tesla is opening up the ability for those who placed reservations for the vehicle to finally put in their order. The Order Configurator is only available to those who have already placed a reservation; it is not yet available to the public.

Tesla said it would open up the public online configurator across the Middle East in the coming weeks:

The UAE is not the only country that will have access to the Cybertruck, as fans in other Middle Eastern countries will also be able to place orders soon. Tesla announced back in April that Saudi Arabia and Qatar would also have Cybertruck deliveries.

These vehicles will be built at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas plant just outside of Austin, as Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Shanghai, two factories located in the same hemisphere as the Middle East, do not have established lines for Cybertruck production.

As for the other markets, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hinted that the company could develop a smaller Cybertruck for those markets, as he admitted that in the long term, it likely made sense to build a more compact version for regions where roads are traditionally tighter.

Elon Musk hints at smaller Tesla Cybertruck version down the road

There has been no evidence of Tesla developing this more compact version, but it could eventually happen.

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Tesla rolls out new life-saving feature for kids in Europe

On average, 37 children die every year from being left in vehicles unattended.

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tesla model x
Credit: Tesla

Tesla is rolling out a new life-saving feature in the European market, one that has been available in the United States for some time and can be considered potentially invaluable.

One of the most preventable causes of death for children is being left in cars unattended. On average, 37 children die every year after being left in hot vehicles. The cause of death is usually heatstroke, and it is incredibly avoidable.

Tesla rolls out new crucial safety feature aimed at saving children

However, there are instances where kids are left in vehicles and lose their lives, something that many companies have tried to fight with alerts and features of their own.

Tesla is one of them, as it has rolled out features like ultrasonic sensors to detect heartbeats, interior cameras to detect movement, and alerts to notify parents if they leave someone in the car.

A few months ago, Tesla rolled out a new feature called “Child Left Alone Detection” in the United States. It was described as:

“If an unattended child is detected, the vehicle will flash the exterior indicator lights, play an alert tone, and send a notification to your Tesla app. This will repeat at regular intervals until you return to your vehicle. Cabin data is processed locally and is not transmitted to Tesla.

This feature is enabled by default. To disable, go to Controls > Safety > Child Left Alone Detection.”

This feature was only rolled out in the U.S. at the time. It is now making its way to the European market, according to Not a Tesla App, which detected the rollout in the 2025.32.6 software update.

The rollout of this feature could specifically change many unfortunate situations. For many of us, it seems hard to think about leaving something as precious as another human life in a hot car. Many of us won’t leave our vehicles without our cell phones, so it seems unlikely that someone would do it without a child.

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Tesla gets another NHTSA probe, this time related to door handles

“Although Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside of the cabin, in these situations, a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them.”

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is facing another investigation into its vehicles by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this time related to an issue with its door handles.

In a new Open Investigation named “Electronic door handles become inoperative,” the NHTSA says that it has received nine complaints from owners of the 2021 Tesla Model Y stemming from “an inability to open doors.”

These issues were reported after “parents exited their vehicle after a drive cycle in order to remove a child from the pack seat or placing a child in the back seat before starting a drive cycle.” Parents said they were “unable to reopen a door to regain access to the vehicle.”

Tesla door handles become unlikely hero as they stump road rager

Four of the nine complaints ended with having to break a window to regain access to the cabin.

The NHTSA goes on to explain that, while Teslas do have a manual door release inside the cabin, a child may not be able to access it:

“Although Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside of the cabin, in these situations, a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them. As a result, in these instances, an occupant who remains inside a vehicle in this condition may be unable to be rapidly retrieved by persons outside of the vehicle.”

It appears that the agency is attributing the issue to a low voltage in the vehicle’s 12V DC battery. This would mean there needs to be some sort of notification to the driver that the battery is running low on power and should be replaced to avoid this issue.

The NHTSA estimates that 174,290 vehicles are potentially impacted by this issue. It plans to assess the scope and severity of the condition, the agency says. The NHTSA also wants to see what approach Tesla uses to supply power to door locks and the reliability of the applicable power supplies.

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