Between 2020 and 2023, Tesla will (TSLA) more than 500,000 likes Trees on the outskirts of Berlin to make room for the German Gigafactory. If left there, the trees would have absorbed enough CO2 to offset emissions of almost 3,000 cars per year.

Tesla (TSLA) began building its German Gigafactory in 2020 and the first car rolled off the production line in 2021. Create an area large enough for the plantThe automaker had to cut down thousands of trees to clear the site and prepare the ground for construction. In the years since construction began this practice was continued to enable the expansion of Tesla’s European factory.

The entire extent of the tree felling has now been mapped using satellite images of the area. reports the GuardianAccording to the British news agency, Tesla cut down trees on an area of ​​813 hectares of forest between March 2020 and May 2023. It is estimated that this corresponds to the loss of about 500,000 trees in this three-year period:

Karolina Drzewo from the campaign alliance “Tesla turns off the tap” said the analysis showed that the company’s production of electric vehicles had caused both local destruction of nature and global damage through the mining of metals. “In one of the driest regions in Germany, too much of the environment has already been destroyed,” she said. “An expansion and thus even more destruction of forests and endangerment of the drinking water protection area must be prevented.”

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Antoine Halff, chief analyst at Kayrros, said: “The Tesla factory in Germany has resulted in quite a lot of trees being felled. Of course, you have to put that into perspective when you consider the benefits of replacing combustion engine cars with electric vehicles.”

Since Start of construction on the Tesla siteits construction was marred by protests from environmentalists who accused Tesla of greenwashing, arguing that preserving forests would benefit the planet more than switching to electric vehicles.

Experts estimate that this number of trees could absorb up to 13,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. Reports Interesting TechnologyThis corresponds to the average annual CO2 emissions of about 2,800 cars here in the United States. Despite this, deforestation at this site could continue, as the website explains:

Despite the massive deforestation, the Brandenburg state environment ministry has approved plans to double the plant’s production capacity to one million cars a year. This decision has only added to the controversy, with dozens of environmental incidents reported at the site, including leaks and spills of diesel fuel, paint and aluminum.

While Tesla acknowledges these incidents, it stresses that no environmental damage occurred and that corrective measures were taken where necessary.

The expansion of Tesla’s European factory has been a controversial issue for months. Environment Activists protested repeatedly on the ground, including sit-ins in key areas of the forest surrounding the plant, and they even stormed the factory in May.

The movements were obvious meets with disdain from company boss Elon Muskwho described the demonstrators on site to X as “either the stupidest eco-terrorists in the world or puppets of those who do not have good environmental goals.”

A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik.