GM CEO Barra’s plan for automaker to lead the industry in EV profits

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Thursday that GM will stand apart from other traditional car companies this year as it completes its transformation to a technology company. But she admits that GM is nowhere near to getting battery costs down enough to make electric vehicles as profitable as their gasoline-powered counterparts. In fact, Barra… Continue reading GM CEO Barra’s plan for automaker to lead the industry in EV profits

Candidate for UAW president got $30,000 donation from mine safety engineer

This content is only available to subscribers. Get unlimited digital access. $1 for 3 Months. Subscribe Now Your subscription supports: Unlimited access to subscriber only articles on desktop, tablet and mobile web. The eNewspaper, a digital replica of the print paper, every day. Access to exclusive sports reporting on your local teams from USA TODAY… Continue reading Candidate for UAW president got $30,000 donation from mine safety engineer

Do You Work in the Auto Industry? We Want to Hear From You.

Growth in sales of electric vehicles has created thousands of jobs in auto manufacturing, batteries and other new fields, but not without turmoil. There is talk of layoffs at some suppliers and automakers even as other companies expand. I cover the auto industry for The New York Times, and I am planning to write about… Continue reading Do You Work in the Auto Industry? We Want to Hear From You.

Tesla Will Build Heavy Trucks at a New Factory in Nevada

Tesla will build a factory in northern Nevada that will manufacture electric semi trucks, the company said Tuesday, putting pressure on traditional truck makers like Daimler and Volvo that are just beginning to sell battery-powered vehicles. The factory, along with a new battery plant, will add 3,000 employees at an existing Tesla facility east of… Continue reading Tesla Will Build Heavy Trucks at a New Factory in Nevada

Elon Musk Said Tesla Buyout Plan Didn’t Involve ‘a Specific Number’

Under direct questioning by a federal judge on Tuesday, Elon Musk could not say exactly how much money investors were considering putting into his 2018 proposal to take Tesla off the stock market. Mr. Musk wrote on Twitter on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had “funding secured” for the deal. But during his last day… Continue reading Elon Musk Said Tesla Buyout Plan Didn’t Involve ‘a Specific Number’

Elon Musk Says He Could Have Raised Funds to Take Tesla Private

Elon Musk said on Monday that he had not lied or misspoken about his plan to take Tesla off the stock market in 2018, testifying in federal court that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had “unequivocally wanted to take Tesla private.” Investors are suing Mr. Musk, Tesla and the company’s board because they contend that… Continue reading Elon Musk Says He Could Have Raised Funds to Take Tesla Private

Elon Musk Testifies That His Tweets Did Not Drive Tesla’s Stock Price

In his testimony, Mr. Musk said he thought Twitter was “the best way to communicate with people,” including “investors, big and small.” He also said he used Twitter to share memes, a comment that drew laughter from some people watching the trial. Mr. Musk also acknowledged that in July 2018 his associates and friends, including… Continue reading Elon Musk Testifies That His Tweets Did Not Drive Tesla’s Stock Price

Carl Hahn Dies at 96; Made the VW Beetle Ubiquitous

“Without him, there would likely not have been the ads, which did indeed change the whole story for VW outside of Germany and did indeed result in a lot of needed healing, as well as revenue,” Andrea Hiott, the author of “Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle” (2012), said in an… Continue reading Carl Hahn Dies at 96; Made the VW Beetle Ubiquitous

Elon Musk’s Appetite for Destruction

I wanted to ask Musk to elaborate on his philosophy of risk, but he didn’t reply to my interview requests. So instead I spoke with Peter Singer, a prominent utilitarian philosopher, to sort through some of the ethical issues involved. Was Musk right when he claimed that anything that delays the development and adoption of… Continue reading Elon Musk’s Appetite for Destruction

Elon Musk Goes to Trial Over His 2018 Plan to Take Tesla Private

More than four years after he said he had secured the funding to take Tesla off the stock market, Elon Musk will try to defend that statement in a trial that began on Tuesday in a federal court in San Francisco. The case is brought by investors who claim Mr. Musk, the electric automaker’s chief… Continue reading Elon Musk Goes to Trial Over His 2018 Plan to Take Tesla Private