Workers at Rivia’s Illinois plant have warned of unsafe conditions at the site, California is investing an additional $1 billion in electric vehicle infrastructure, and VW has closed a factory that makes manual transmissions. All this and more Morning shift For Monday, November 21, 2022.
Gear 1: Workers at Rivia’s Illinois plant are not happy about safety
Being an electric car startup is tough. You have to come up with designs, finance development, open a factory, and then face lawsuits about poor working conditions. The same thing happened with Tesla back in the day, and things sounded crazy in Lucid when he started building the Air sedan. Now workers at Rivia’s Illinois plant have spoken out about dangerous working conditions at the facility.
according to Automotive News, “at least a dozen employees” of the Amazon-backed electric truck maker spoke about conditions at the plant. Workers at the site expected “a little more priority on safety,” according to complaints filed with regulators along with the United Auto Workers union.
Automotive News informs:
“The complaints allege that the company ignored known hazards and prioritized safety resources, leaving some workers to share respirators needed during the manufacturing process. They also detail a number of injuries, including a bruised hand, broken leg, sliced ear and broken ribs. One Rivian employee said management removed damaged electrical cables from the debris and told workers to use them.
“Together, the documents describe an automaker that is cutting corners as it rapidly scales to keep pace in the competitive EV space. Some employees described safety protocols on its trademark plug-in pickup that were loosening as production pressures mounted.
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In response to the allegations, Rivian says its security “performs better than industry peers.” The company added that the “dozens of complainants” accepted by the UAW represent “only 0.2 percent of the 6,700 workers” at the Illinois plant.
2nd Gear: California’s $1 billion EV Investment
Whether they’re built at Rivia’s Illinois plant or elsewhere around the world, electric cars are probably the future. So it’s time to make serious investments in the infrastructure needed to support them. And there is good news Potential EV buyers in California as the state will invest an additional $1 billion to strengthen the car charging network.
according to BloombergThe state will spend the extra money on “the infrastructure needed to phase out gas-powered trucks and cars.”
“The five-year program will allocate 70% of the funding to loading medium and heavy-duty vehicles, with the remainder for light trucks in or near high-rise residential buildings.
The commission said, “California’s new charging program will be funded by the state’s investor-owned utilities, starting in 2025, with incentives offered for customer investments in businesses, factories and housing. Higher incentives will be provided for projects in low-income and tribal communities.”
Investment is part of the goal of the state In 2035, the sale of gas-powered cars will be banned. The new round of funding is part of $1.8 billion in ratepayer funding to electrify California’s transportation infrastructure over the past six years.
3rd Gear: VW will stop the MBuy the most Instructions… in China
What was the last manual car you drove? You loved him and felt more connected Did you hate the driving experience or all that extra faff? It seems that drivers in China are more inclined to feel like a factory building manual gearboxes. closed its doors.
according to Reuters, the German car manufacturer Volkswagen has closed a factory producing manual gearboxes together with SAIC Motors. The site, which has the capacity to build 500,000 manual gearboxes a year, has produced only 50,000 units in recent years. Reuters reports:
The news was relayed to workers in a letter published in local media this week, noting that the joint venture is the latest step in ending production of manual cars as Chinese customers prefer automatic cars.
“Approximately 250 employees have been affected and will be offered various support measures,” the spokeswoman said, without elaborating and saying it did not necessarily mean a new position.
VW cited declining consumer demand for manual cars in China as the reason for the plant closure. The move does not mark the end of the manual in China, however, and the automaker will continue to make manual transmissions through its joint venture with FAW in the northeastern city of Changchun.
4th Gear: GM Plows $45 million P. to the electric trucklants
While VW is closing plants, General Motors is doing the opposite and expanding its American sites. according to Automotive NewsGM will invest $45 million in a foundry in Indiana to aid production his Silverado EV and Sierra EV pickup trucks.
The investment in the aluminum foundry is to solidify the expected demand for the two trucks that will start rolling off the production line in 2023. Automotive News reports:
“The latest expansion follows an investment of more than $51 million in 2021, which was used to support the production of drivetrains for the Silverado EV and other applications. The Bedford plant also produces powertrains for the 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup truck.
The investment in GM’s Indiana plant brings the company’s spending in this area to $456 million since 2011. The site, which opened in 1942, will begin assembling the Silverado EV in 2023 and The Sierra EV will be produced in 2024.
5th Gear: Nuro Self-Driving C20 percent of cases
After years of expansion, self-driving car startup Nuro is going through hard times and has announced that it is cutting staff. The Silicon Valley-based startup is cutting “about 20 percent” of its workforce and has admitted that “the rapid hiring spree last year was a mistake.”
Reuters reports The Google-backed startup faces “a number of economic problems” in 2022, he said. The company cited “anticipated recession and energy crises in the United States” as the reason for having to cut costs.
Nuro founders Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu told Reuters: “We have doubled our team in less than two years and significantly increased our operating expenses, assuming the funding environment remains strong.
“We made the call and take full responsibility for today’s circumstances.”
Reuters reports that the layoffs will affect “about 300 employees.” Employees who lose their jobs in the layoffs will be offered three months of severance pay and other benefits, according to an email shared with employees Friday.
On the contrary: No, not again
Neutral: Danke Seb
It was four times F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel’s last race yesterday. He managed to finish in the points after some questionable strategy calls from the Aston Martin team, but for all the pomp and ceremony, it was a bit anti-climactic. Like his move from Red Bull to Ferrari and then to Aston Martin.