I recently had the opportunity to accompany a group of artist/activists who have been campaigning against the construction of Tesla’s latest manufacturing plant in Grünheide, a small town oustide of Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. We started the day in Schöneweide, where the expansive former grounds of the AEG (Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft) remain. The firm was a major driver of the electric revolution in Berlin and Germany at the end of the 19th centruy. We then traveled out to Grünheide to have a look at Tesla’s “gigafactory” from the outside. There was a time in the 19th centrury when the success and prominence of AEG and the other German giant Siemens led to Berlin being dubbed “Elektropolis” - those days are gone but Tesla’s investment in the region has drawn in other players operating on the electric vehicle supply chain, and the region is set to become one of the most important centers of electric vehicle production in Europe.