Tesla Inc. halted some construction work at its German plant project after failing to make a security deposit with local authorities.

Brandenburg’s environment ministry stopped tree-felling and the installation of paint-shop machinery at the site until the funds are received, a spokeswoman for the ministry said Friday, declining to comment further.

Tesla needs to provide a 100 million-euro (US$122 million) deposit with local authorities to cover the cost of tearing down the factory if the project doesn’t receive final approval, Berlin’s Tagesspiegel newspaper reported earlier. Having missed yesterday’s deadline, the U.S. carmaker now has until Jan. 4 to stump up the money, or risk having preliminary approvals revoked, the daily said.

Any major delays would be a blow for Tesla’s ambitious timetable to have its first European factory up and running by the middle of next year. The company plans to eventually produce as many as 500,000 cars annually at the site, posing a serious challenge to German rivals Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG and BMW AG.

Tesla is also still waiting for a decision from a Berlin court related to the same tree-clearing, after two environmental groups complained the company isn’t doing enough to protect local lizards and snakes.