Fremont
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Tesla could be stepping a refresh of the Model S up to September, and planning to make the Model Y crossover in California.
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Tesla Model 3 teardown underscores missed opportunities
Last year employee parking lots overflowed at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant. By comparing the headcount of Tesla's factory at present versus historically, it’s easy to grasp why the facility has seemed so crowded. At its heyday, Toyota and GM needed 4,400 people at Fremont. Tesla...
Bengt Halvorson -
Tesla Model 3 production crossed 2,000 last week; is it sustainable?
Tesla reported Tuesday that it built 34,494 electric cars in the first quarter of 2018, by far its largest quarterly production total ever. But all eyes were on one number: the production of Model 3 sedans, which was 9,766 vehicles out of that total. Of the rest, 11,730 were Model S hatchback...
John Voelcker -
Tesla employees say Model 3 parts need substantial rework after production
Electric-car maker Tesla is known for troubled launches, at least for the four products it's offered since the first Roadster in 2008. But the launch of the Tesla Model 3, its lower-priced electric sedan, may be the most challenging yet—and it may be the Tesla with the highest expectations...
John Voelcker -
Tesla now makes almost 1,000 Model 3s a week, Bloomberg tracker estimates
Production numbers for Tesla electric cars have always been slightly murky. The company announces deliveries only quarterly and refuses to break them down by country, meaning there are no sales figures that directly compare with those routinely issued by other makers. The Tesla Model 3 has endured...
John Voelcker -
Could Tennessee top Michigan in U.S. electric-car production (if not California)?
Today, battery-electric cars are built in volume at only three locations across the entire United States. Tesla builds its three different electric models in Fremont, California; the new 2018 Nissan Leaf has just gone into production in Smyrna, Tennessee; and the Chevrolet Bolt EV is built at the...
John Voelcker -
Only one topic really mattered in the Tesla third-quarter financial results call for analysts held Wednesday afternoon: Model 3. In light of far lower September deliveries than promised as late as July by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, all interest focused on the more-affordable, higher-volume electric car that's meant to catapult Tesla to selling half a million cars a year. The news for October deliveries was, to put it bluntly, not good. DON'T MISS: Parts order for Tesla Model 3 cut by 40 percent starting in December: report Model 3 deliveries had kicked off in late July with a highly touted ceremony...
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Tesla electric-car plant expansion could double size of Fremont factory
Electric-car maker Tesla is at a pivotal time in the 13-year-old company's history as production of its mass-market Model 3 ramps up and ambitious plans to roll out additional vehicles loom. Coinciding with the production start of the Tesla Model 3 are plans for a major expansion the Silicon Valley...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla moans about media as it fights workers' union efforts
Tesla's position is clear: the California electric-car maker doesn't feel a union is needed to protect its factory workers from what it claims are only anecdotal stories about worker safety and wage levels. Last weekend, Tesla continued to punch back at United Auto Workers organizating efforts at...
Sean Szymkowski -
Solar panels, EV chargers required in new homes in Fremont, CA
Half a century ago, the General Motors assembly plant was the largest employer in Fremont, California, and the town was known for its dragstrip. Today, that plant makes Tesla electric cars and Fremont is a part of the San Francisco Bay Area's Silicon Valley, creating advanced technology for the...
Green Car Reports -
Manufacturing expert says Tesla Model 3 plan to skip beta testing is risky
Tesla is taking a major gamble regarding the production of its upcoming Model 3 sedan in skipping prototype tooling and jumping straight to permanent production tooling, says a noted auto-manufacturing expert. "He's pushing the envelope to see how much time and cost he can take out of the process,"...
Sean Szymkowski -
Faster electric-car fast charging: test site in Fremont, VW plans 300 kw-plus
Charging infrastructure projects for electric cars have mostly focused on expanding the number of charging sites available to the public over the last six years. But now significant effort is also being put into increasing the power those public charging stations can provide. This is due to...
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded vigorously to an employee's claims of low wages and commonplace on-the-job injuries. In an email to employees and statements to media outlets, Musk denied the claims and accused the employee who made them of being a paid union agitator. Earlier this month, Jose Moran said Tesla employees, "routinely work well over 40 hours a week, including excessive mandatory overtime." DON'T MISS: Will Tesla Model 3 be most 'made in America' car, beating Toyota Camry? The claims came in a Medium post, in which Moran also said Tesla workers routinely suffered from...
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Does Tesla have plant, permits to build 500,000 electric cars a year?
The 2017 Chevy Bolt EV is due at dealers within a couple of months, and little is known about the next Nissan Leaf. That leaves the Tesla Model 3 as the biggest question mark among electric cars. We know what the car is, since Tesla unveiled prototypes this spring. It's whether the company can get...
John Voelcker -
Tesla now 'driving force' behind San Francisco area manufacturing
Electric-car maker Tesla Motors has had many interesting and unexpected effects in its decade of existence. It's launched a series of electric cars with 200 miles or more of range, which remain—eight years after its first Roadster—the only such cars sold today that can make that claim...
John Voelcker -
Tesla hires Audi veteran as new vehicle-production VP; predecessor took leave of absence
Following the departure of two top manufacturing executives, electric-car maker Tesla Motors has hired a manufacturing executive from German luxury maker Audi. The company announced the news late Friday in a release sent to news media. The executive, Peter Hocholdinger, will join the Silicon Valley...
John Voelcker -
CA Bill Gives Tax-Free Delivery To Out-Of-State Tesla Buyers
Well, this might upset a few martini glasses at National Automobile Dealers Association social events. A bill passed by the California State Senate two days ago allows out-of-state car buyers to take delivery of their electric cars in California without paying any sales tax. The legislation was...
John Voelcker -
Here's What The Tesla Model X Assembly Line Looks Like
See the Tesla Model X assembly line in a new video.
Stephen Edelstein -
EVgo opens a fast-charging site that can charge cars on multiple standards simultaneously.
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Tesla Model X Caught On Video In Acceleration, Cornering Tests
Thank heavens for the Interwebs, which have now surfaced a video of a Tesla Model X electric SUV being tested in the San Francisco Bay Area. There's just over 60 seconds of footage of what's clearly a Model X, with camouflage patterns covering the details of its bodywork. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model S...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Factory Retooling Completed Ahead Of Planned Production Boost
Tesla completes a retooling of its Fremont, California, factory.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Needs More Office Space Too (It's Not Just The Gigafactory)
It wasn't so long ago--not quite four years, actually--that Tesla's new headquarters and office complex in the foothills of Palo Alto, California, seemed a big and audacious gamble. My, how times change. With its factory in nearby Fremont cranking out several hundred Model S electric cars a week...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Recruits U.S. Military Veterans To Build Electric Cars In California
Tesla Motors is making a concerted effort to hire veterans.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Deal To Supply Toyota RAV4 EV Powertrain To End This Year
Several news reports over the weekend noted that Tesla's contract to supply Toyota with electric powertrains for its RAV4 EV crossover would end next year. In the words of Tesla's latest quarterly report, cited by Bloomberg in a Saturday news story, “Toyota is expected to end the current RAV4...
John Voelcker