The investigation was sparked by a report in German newspaper Handelsblatt, which claimed that 100 gigabytes of confidential data from customers, employees, and business partners had been leaked by a former Tesla employee.

The Dutch authorities have informed their counterparts in the German state of Brandenburg, who will be responsible for any enforcement action if the allegations are proven.

Tesla has been accused of violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which could result in fines of up to 4% of the company's annual sales.

The German union IG Metall has called on Tesla to inform employees about any data protection violations and promote a culture of openness.