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☆ Daimler Truck Workers in North Carolina Are Poised to Strike
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Workers who make trucks and buses for Daimler Truck in North Carolina appeared poised to strike on Friday as contract talks remained deadlocked. A contract covering 7,000 Daimler employees represented by the United Automobile Workers will expire at the end of Friday. The German company has five factories in North Carolina, where it builds Freightliner and Western Star trucks, Thomas Built buses, and various components. scored a significant victory this month when workers at Volkswagen’s factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., voted to be represented by the union. Workers at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama will vote on whether to unionize in mid-May.

Persons: Thomas Organizations: Daimler Truck, Daimler, United Automobile Workers, Freightliner, Western Star, Workers, Benz Locations: North Carolina, Southern, Volkswagen’s, Chattanooga , Tenn, Alabama

☆ Honda Commits to E.V.s With Big Investment in Canada
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Honda Motor on Thursday said it would invest $11 billion to build batteries and electric cars in Ontario, a significant commitment from a company that has been slow to embrace the technology. Like Toyota and other Japanese carmakers, Honda has emphasized hybrid vehicles, in which gasoline engines are augmented by electric motors, rather than cars powered solely by batteries. The Honda Prologue, a sport-utility vehicle made in Mexico, is the company’s only fully electric vehicle on sale in the United States. “This is a very big day for the region, for the province and for the country,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at an announcement event in Alliston, where Honda manufactures the Civic sedan and CR-V S.U.V. The investment is the largest by an automaker in Canadian history, he said.

Persons: Justin Trudeau Organizations: Honda, Toyota Locations: Ontario, Mexico, United States, Alliston , Ontario, Toronto, Alliston

Tesla plans to lay off more than 10 percent of its work force in an effort to cut costs, Elon Musk, the automaker’s chief executive, told employees on Monday. The job cuts, amounting to about 14,000 people, come as the company faces increasing competition and declining sales. The email was earlier reported by Electrek, an online news site, and Handelsblatt, a German business newspaper. The move is the latest sign that Tesla may not be as unstoppable as it once seemed. The company’s sales are no longer growing at a rapid pace, and it has been slow to introduce new models.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, Mr, Musk, ”, Electrek Organizations: Elon, The New York Times Locations: Asia, Europe

☆ Tell Us: Has Elon Musk’s Behavior Affected How You View Tesla?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Withholding Starlink satellite internet service from Ukraine to prevent a drone attack on Russian forces. Elon Musk’s behavior and public statements have clearly offended many people, especially left-leaning consumers who are the most likely to buy an electric vehicle. As a business reporter who covers Tesla, the company that Mr. Musk is chief executive of, I’m exploring to what extent his public persona is damaging the company’s brand and hurting sales. Or, as Mr. Musk has insisted, do people choose the best car regardless of what the chief executive says and does? If you own a Tesla, are thinking of buying one or have thought about buying one but ultimately chose another brand, I’d like to hear from you.

Persons: Elon, Tesla, Musk Organizations: Biden Locations: Ukraine

☆ Mercedes-Benz Workers in Alabama Ask for Unionization Vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Workers at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama have petitioned federal officials to hold a vote on whether to join the United Automobile Workers, the union said on Friday, a step forward for its drive to organize workers at car factories in the South. is also trying to organize workers at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee and a Hyundai factory in Alabama, establishing a bigger presence in states that have drawn much of the new investment in automobile manufacturing in recent decades. A vote at the Volkswagen plant is scheduled for April 17 to 19. The drive has taken on added importance as Southern states like South Carolina and Georgia attract billions of dollars in investment in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing. is trying to ensure that jobs created by electric vehicles do not pay less than jobs at traditional auto factories.

Organizations: Benz, United Automobile Workers, Ford Motor, General Motors, Detroit, Volkswagen, Hyundai Locations: Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia

☆ Tesla Settles Discrimination Suit With Former Factory Worker
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla and a former employee have agreed to settle a closely watched lawsuit that cast a harsh light on the carmaker’s treatment of Black workers. Lawyers for Tesla and for Owen Diaz, who worked at the company’s factory in Fremont, Calif., did not disclose the terms of the settlement in a legal filing on Friday. Organ, a lawyer for Mr. Diaz, said in an email, adding that he could not comment further. A supervisor drew a racist caricature near his work station, according to testimony in the case. Tesla did little to discipline the supervisors or address pervasive racism at the factory, the jury found.

Persons: Tesla, Owen Diaz, “, ” Lawrence, Diaz Organizations: Tesla Locations: Fremont , Calif, San Francisco, Tesla’s

The Biden administration proposed new rules on Friday aimed at shifting more production of electric vehicle batteries and the materials that power them to the United States, in an attempt to build up a strategic industry now dominated by China. The rules are meant to limit the role that Chinese firms can play in supplying materials for electric vehicles that qualify for federal tax credits. They will also discourage companies that seek federal funding to build battery factories in the United States from sourcing materials from Chinese partners. The rules could cause some consternation among automakers, who continue to rely heavily on China for materials and components of electric vehicles. The Biden administration is attempting to use billions of dollars in new federal funding to change that dynamic and create a U.S. supply chain for electric vehicles, through both carrots and sticks.

Persons: Biden Locations: United States, China, U.S

☆ Pickup or Lunar Lander? Tesla’s Cybertruck Enters a Crowded Market.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla plans to begin delivering its much delayed, highly anticipated Cybertruck pickup to customers on Thursday, entering one of the most lucrative but competitive segments of the auto industry. With its stainless steel body and sharp angles, the Cybertruck is unlike pickups from Ford Motor, General Motors and Ram that dominate the market. It is Tesla’s first completely new passenger vehicle in more than three years but arrives long after other automakers began selling battery-powered pickups. Will it steal customers from traditional automakers, appeal to a different crowd or become a costly flop? “It looks like something lowered from the lunar module to collect rocks on the moon.”

Persons: Tesla, Ram, ”, Ben Rose Organizations: Ford Motor, General Motors, Battle, Research

The Biden administration has been trying to jump-start the domestic supply chain for electric vehicles so cleaner cars can be made in the United States. But the experience of one Texas company, whose plans to help make an all-American electric vehicle were upended by China, highlights the stakes involved as the administration finalizes rules governing the industry. Huntsman Corporation started construction two years ago on a $50 million plant in Texas to make ethylene carbonate, a chemical that is used in electric vehicle batteries. It would have been the only site in North America making the product, with the goal of feeding battery factories that would crop up to serve the electric vehicle market. But as new facilities in China came online and flooded the market, the price of the chemical plummeted to $700 a ton from $4,000.

Persons: Biden, ”, Peter R, Huntsman, “ I’d Organizations: Huntsman Corporation Locations: United States, Texas, China, North America

☆ Man vs. Musk: A Whistleblower Creates Headaches for Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

(Some of the information came from a second, unidentified Tesla employee.) The Data Protection Authority in the Netherlands, where Tesla has its European headquarters, is investigating whether the breach violated privacy laws. Tesla and three lawyers representing the company did not reply to requests for comment. In the United States, Benson Pai, a former Tesla production worker, has sued the automaker in federal court in California, claiming that lax security by Tesla exposed employee information that could be sold to criminals. Lawyers for Mr. Pai are seeking approval from a judge to pursue the case as a class action on behalf of tens of thousands of Tesla employees.

Persons: Handelsblatt, Tesla, Krupski, Benson Pai, Pai Organizations: Wired, Data Protection Authority, Mr Locations: Netherlands, United States, California

Still, analysts say, electric vehicle sales are projected to jump sharply under the right conditions. Administration officials must speed the deployment of charging stations meant to ease the logistics of owning and driving an electric vehicle. Mr. Biden is trying to jump-start the electric vehicle market as the global transition to cleaner fuels is accelerating more quickly than expected. The administration’s policies to boost electric vehicles aren’t just aimed at climate change. Without an American supply chain, electric vehicles can’t qualify for the full $7,500 consumer tax credit the law created.

Persons: Biden, — they’re, ”, Rhett Ricart Organizations: Ricart Automotive, National Automobile Dealers Association Locations: U.S, America, Columbus , Ohio

☆ Automakers Delay Electric Vehicle Spending as Demand Slows
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But when the number of electric vehicles sold in the United States grew that much during the third quarter from a year earlier, it was a disappointment. Instead of celebrating, auto executives worried that demand for electric vehicles was slackening, raising questions about their plans to invest tens of billions of dollars to develop new models and build factories. In recent weeks, General Motors, Ford Motor and Tesla cited slower sales and signs that the economy was weakening in announcing that they would delay that spending. future is as strong as ever,” Mary T. Barra, the chief executive of G.M., told analysts on a conference call last month. is waiting several months to begin selling some new electric models, including a battery-powered incarnation of the Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicle.

Persons: Carmakers, Tesla, Biden, Mary T, Barra Organizations: General Motors, Ford Motor, Chevrolet Locations: United States

In South Burlington, the school district leases the electric buses from Highland, which also supplies equipment to recharge them and pays the electricity bills. Those bills are lower than normal because of a deal that lets Green Mountain Power, the utility serving most of Vermont, draw power from the bus batteries when demand surges. They are part of a network that also includes batteries that homeowners install to provide backup power during blackouts. In total, Green Mountain Power has access to 50 megawatts of battery storage from school buses, home batteries and other sources, said Mari McClure, the utility’s chief executive. Over time, Ms. McClure said, enough electric school buses and home batteries may be connected to the grid to stop her utility from needing to buy electricity from out-of-state power plants.

Persons: Mari McClure, McClure Organizations: Power, Electric Power Research Institute Locations: South Burlington, Highland, Vermont

☆ Tesla Wins Suit That Blamed Its Software for Deadly Crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A California jury ruled on Tuesday that a crash that killed a Tesla owner and seriously injured two passengers was not the fault of the carmaker’s driver-assistance software. It is the first verdict involving a fatal crash in which lawyers representing the victims blamed Tesla’s Autopilot system. The technology allows a car to drive with a degree of autonomy but has been criticized as unreliable. Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive, has convinced many Wall Street analysts and investors that self-driving software will be a lucrative source of profit for the company. Tesla charges as much as $199 per month for its most advanced driver-assistance system, Full Self-Driving.

Persons: Elon Musk Organizations: Wall Street Locations: California, Riverside , Calif, United States

When autoworkers went on strike in September, executives of the large U.S. automakers warned that union demands could significantly undermine their ability to compete in a fast-changing industry. The chief executive of Ford Motor said that the company might have to scrap its investment in electric vehicles. Ford’s cost will rise under the terms of the new contract, which includes a 25 percent raise over four and a half years, improved retirement benefits and other provisions. But analysts said those increases should be manageable. If anything, he said, the deal will help Ford, in part because the four-year contract ensures there will be no labor strife during an intense phase of the transition to electric vehicles.

Persons: autoworkers, Ram, ”, Joshua Murray, Ford Organizations: Ford Motor, Ford, United Automobile Workers, General Motors, Chrysler, Vanderbilt University

☆ Nonunion Workers Are Playing a Big Role in the Autoworkers’ Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Executives at Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler, invoke nonunion automakers, many of them in the South, as a competitive threat that makes it impossible for them to meet striking workers’ demands for big raises, more generous benefits and better working conditions. “Toyota, Honda, Tesla and others are loving this strike because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them,” Bill Ford, the executive chair of Ford Motor, said in Michigan last week. “They will win, and all of us will lose.”The United Automobile Workers union sees such statements as an attempt to play workers off one another. It views the strikes, entering their sixth week, as a first step toward better pay for not only U.A.W. members but also the nonunion workers that it plans to recruit in the future.

Persons: Tesla, Bill Ford, “ Organizations: Toyota, Benz, Ford Motor, General Motors, Chrysler, Honda, United Automobile Workers Locations: Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, Detroit, Michigan

☆ Federal Investigators Widen Tesla Inquiry, Company Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Department of Justice has expanded its inquiry into Tesla’s business practices to include how far its vehicles can travel on a full charge and “personal benefits” to high-ranking executives or large shareholders, the company said without elaborating. The disclosure followed recent news reports that the carmaker appears to have misled customers about how far its vehicles could travel before needing to be plugged in. Tesla also said in a regulatory filing that the government had subpoenaed documents related to “personal benefits” and unidentified “related parties,” a term that often refers to top management, company directors or large shareholders. The U.S. attorney’s office in New York has looked into whether funds were misused in a planned house for Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive, near Tesla’s factory in Austin, Texas, The Wall Street Journal reported in August. The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on Monday.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk Organizations: of Justice, Elon, Street Locations: U.S, New York, Tesla’s, Austin , Texas

☆ Quebec Lures $5 Billion Battery Factory for Electric Cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Northvolt, a Swedish maker of batteries for electric cars, said on Thursday that it would build a factory near Montreal after the Canadian government matched financial incentives that would have been available from the United States. The company will invest $5 billion in the factory, which will employ as many as 3,000 people and be among the largest battery plants in North America when it begins production in 2026. The Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden’s signature climate law, includes billions of dollars in incentives to create a domestic battery industry. It has sparked a boom in investment as well as fierce competition among government officials seeking to lure companies to their states or provinces. U.S. allies have complained that incentives designed to create a domestic supply chain have ignited a costly subsidy arms race.

Locations: Swedish, Montreal, United States, North America, U.S

☆ Ford Halts Work on E.V. Battery Plant in Michigan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor, in the midst of tense contract negotiations with striking United Automobile Workers, said on Monday that it was suspending construction of a battery factory in Michigan because of concerns that the plant might not be able to make products at a competitive price. It was unclear whether the halt was related to negotiations with the union, or to other issues. Ford has come under attack from Republican lawmakers because it plans to manufacture batteries at the plant in Marshall, Mich., using technology licensed from CATL, a Chinese company that is the world’s largest maker of batteries for electric cars. At the same time, Ford has warned that increases in pay and benefits sought by the U.A.W. If unions got all that they were asking for, “we would have to cancel our E.V.

Persons: Ford, Jim Farley Organizations: Ford, United Automobile Workers Locations: Michigan, Marshall, Mich, CATL

☆ For Tesla and Musk, Auto Strike Carries Benefits and Risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Activists must get at least 30 percent of workers to sign union cards and force a vote overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. Companies often do all they can to dissuade workers from joining, hiring lawyers and consultants who specialize in defeating union campaigns. The company reported profit of $2.7 billion on sales of $25 billion in the second quarter, giving it a profit margin of about 11 percent. That profit margin is more than that of Ford or G.M., even after an exceptionally profitable period for those companies. In August, United Parcel Service employees won their biggest raises ever in a contract negotiated by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Persons: Tesla, Biden Organizations: National Labor Relations Board, Companies, Amazon, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot SA, Hollywood, United Parcel Service, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Locations: Staten, unionize, United States

☆ Battle Over Electric Vehicles Is Central to Auto Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A battle between Detroit carmakers and the United Auto Workers union, which escalated on Friday with targeted strikes in three locations, is unfolding amid a once-in-a-century technological upheaval that poses huge risks for both the companies and the union. The strike has come as the traditional automakers invest billions to develop electric vehicles while still making most of their money from gasoline-driven cars. The negotiations will determine the balance of power between workers and management, possibly for years to come. That makes the strike as much a struggle for the industry’s future as it is about wages, benefits and working conditions. Pay is one of the biggest sticking points: The union is demanding a 40 percent pay increase over four years but the automakers have offered roughly half as much.

Persons: Ram —, Henry Ford’s Organizations: Detroit carmakers, United Auto Workers union, Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: Ohio , Michigan, Missouri

☆ U.A.W. Strike Hits 3 Plants as It Seeks Big Raises and Other Gains
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Autoworkers walked off the job on Friday at three factories that produce of some of the Detroit carmakers’ most popular vehicles, the opening salvos in what could become a protracted strike that hurts the U.S. economy and has an impact on the 2024 presidential election. Nearly 13,000 members of the United Auto Workers at plants in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri joined early Friday in what the union described as a targeted strike that could expand to more plants if its demands for pay raises of up to 40 percent and other gains were not met. The union’s four-year contracts with three automakers — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Ram — expired Thursday, and the companies and the union remained far from striking new deals. The U.A.W.’s president, Shawn Fain, used sweeping language on Thursday to describe why his members were going on strike against all three automakers at the same time — something the union had never done in its nearly 90-year history.

Persons: Autoworkers, Ram —, ’, Shawn Fain Organizations: Detroit, United Auto Workers, —, Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: U.S, Ohio , Michigan, Missouri

☆ Electric Vehicle Charging Can Be Confusing. Here’s What to Know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

With a push from Congress, automakers and charging companies are planning to install tens of thousands of fast chargers on American highways capable of refueling electric cars in half an hour or less. That’s good news for anyone who owns an electric car or is thinking about buying one. But it’s also confusing because of a debate about what kind of plugs those new chargers and cars will use now and in the future. Ford Motor, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz and other automakers plan to abandon the plugs their electric cars use today for those designed by Tesla. But they won’t begin selling cars with the Tesla plugs until 2025.

Persons: it’s Organizations: Ford Motor, General Motors, Mercedes, Benz, Tesla, Ford, Chevrolet

☆ G.M. Will Add Backup Power Function to Its Electric Vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors said Tuesday that it planned to equip all its electric cars and trucks with the capability to act as backup power supplies during blackouts. The decision to install two-way charging technology in Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC electric cars and trucks, enabling them to power homes in an emergency, shows how carmakers are marketing the vehicles as not just cleaner than their gasoline counterparts, but also more practical. The technology will begin appearing in vehicles this year, including an electric version of the Silverado pickup and an electric Cadillac Escalade, which G.M. electric vehicles will have what is known as vehicle-to-home technology, the company said. planned to discontinue the compact car but reversed the decision last month after people complained about the disappearance of one of the most affordable electric vehicles.

Persons: Motors, G.M Organizations: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Silverado

☆ G.M. and Other Automakers Will Build 30,000 Electric Vehicle Chargers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Jack Ewing | More About Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Seven major automakers announced a plan on Wednesday to nearly double the number of fast chargers in the United States in an effort to address one of the main reasons that people hesitate to buy electric cars. The carmakers — BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group and Stellantis — will initially invest at least $1 billion in a joint venture that will build 30,000 chargers on major highways and other locations in the United States and Canada. The United States has about 32,000 fast chargers — those that can replenish a drained battery in 10 to 30 minutes. Surveys show that fear about not being able to find a charger is a major reason that car buyers are reluctant to buy electric vehicles. Sales of electric vehicles have risen quickly in the United States, but there are signs that demand is softening.

Persons: Stellantis — Organizations: BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Benz Group, United, Ford Locations: United States, Canada

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