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Honda may build an EV factory in Canada featuring in-house battery cells

(Credit: Honda-LGES JV Company)

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Japanese automaker Honda is considering locations to build an electric vehicle (EV) factory in Canada featuring the use of in-house battery cells.

According to a report on Sunday from Nikkei Asia, Honda could be set to spend as much as $14 billion on an upcoming EV plant in Canada, which would represent one of the automaker’s largest investments yet if pursued. The automaker is looking at multiple potential locations in the North American country, including a site in Ontario that’s near a currently existing auto plant.

Honda would be aiming to have the facility operational by 2028, and the company is planning to decide on a specific location by the end of this year. The site would also be the Japanese automaker’s second North American plant, following a U.S. factory that’s currently under construction.

In June, Honda and LG Energy Solution (LGES) broke ground on a new EV plant in Jeffersonville, Ohio. The facility is expected to employ a total of 2,527 workers, and Honda expects the facility to be completed by the end of 2024. It’s also expected to help the automaker gain access to EV tax credits in the U.S. under Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) rules mandating that vehicles are built domestically.

Canada has enacted a plan to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2035, dubbed the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, and following in the footsteps of the European Union (EU) and U.S. states, California, Maryland and New Jersey.

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Honda and General Motors (GM) had also planned a partnership to develop affordable EVs and compete with market leader Tesla, though the automakers said in a joint statement in October that they would be canceling those plans.

“After extensive studies and analysis, we have come to a mutual decision to discontinue the program,” the companies said in the statement. “Each company remains committed to affordability in the EV market.”

Interestingly, Honda is also targeting another market with electric motorcycles, and the automaker plans to launch 10 or more fully electric motorcycle units by 2025 — with as many as 3.5 million sales per year by 2030.

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Hyundai, Toyota and Honda have raised wages following UAW strikes

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What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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“Foundation:” Elon Musk wants to send a record of Grokipedia to space

The idea sounds outlandish, though it is also something that is in character for the CEO.

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk has announced one of his latest initiatives, and it is every bit as sci-fi as it is surprisingly grounded. In a post on X, Musk stated that Grokipedia, xAI’s new open-source encyclopedia, will be etched into stable oxide and launched into space. 

The idea sounds outlandish, though it is also something that is in character for the CEO.

Preserving human knowledge among the stars

Musk posted his plan following the launch of Grokipedia’s V0.1’s iteration. The CEO congratulated the xAI team for the online encyclopedia’s launch, though he also stated that the goal for Grokipedia is to create an open-source collection of knowledge. This would then be distributed to the cosmos.

“Nice work by the xAI team on Grokipedia! The goal here is to create an open source, comprehensive collection of all knowledge. Then place copies of that etched in a stable oxide in orbit, the Moon, and Mars to preserve it for the future. Foundation,” Musk wrote in his post.

While seemingly outlandish, this is not the first time that a record of human knowledge of sorts was sent out to space. In 1977, the Voyager Golden Record was launched aboard NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft. The record contains sounds and images that ere aggregated to portray the diversity of the Earth’s culture. Of course, Musk’s plan with Grokipedia, is infinitely more ambitious. 

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Grokipedia and AI neutrality

Musk launched Grokipedia as an AI-driven alternative to Wikipedia, designed to eliminate the human biases that could affect conventional online knowledge platforms. The system is powered by xAI’s Grok, which scrape and summarize information from across the internet, offering balanced and nuanced coverage of topics ranging from science and technology to culture and politics.

Unlike Wikipedia’s human-edited format, Grokipedia would be able to evolve through machine learning, reading vastly more material than any editorial team could. Early testers, including Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger, praised its initial version as “very OK” and potentially more neutral than Wikipedia. Musk agreed, stating that even in its V0.1 form, Grokipedia is “already better than Wikipedia.”

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Tesla Cybertrucks to save Las Vegas police thousands in fuel and maintenance

Sheriff Kevin McMahill unveiled the new vehicles on Monday, describing them as “the next evolution to keep our community safer than it’s ever been.”

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Credit: @Sheriff_LVMPD/X

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has officially unveiled its fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks as part of its push toward a more advanced, cost-efficient, and sustainable patrol system. 

Sheriff Kevin McMahill unveiled the new vehicles on Monday, describing them as “the next evolution to keep our community safer than it’s ever been.” The trucks are expected to begin service across all area commands within two weeks.

High-tech patrol fleet

Each UP.FIT-modified Cybertruck has been customized with ladders, shields, and less-lethal equipment to support law enforcement operations. The vehicles will connect to a live drone response hub capable of facial recognition and gunshot detection, enabling drones to launch automatically when alerts trigger. The system streams real-time footage directly to responding officers, enhancing both speed and situational awareness during emergencies.

Officers have already completed training with the new fleet and offered feedback on its performance, according to Fox 5 Vegas. Sheriff McMahill noted that the trucks, along with robot dogs and SWAT vehicles, represent a coordinated effort to combine human expertise with emerging technologies. The Cybertruck rollout was made possible through a donation from the Horowitz family.

Cybertrucks’ major savings

The department’s ten UP.FIT patrol Cybertrucks are among the most American-made law enforcement vehicles available, featuring roughly twice the domestic parts content of comparable Ford and Chevrolet patrol trucks. Beyond their build quality, the electric fleet offers major cost benefits. Each Cybertruck is projected to save between $8,800 and $12,000 in annual fuel costs and roughly $3,540 in maintenance over a five-year service life.

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With regenerative braking, factory ballistic-resistant doors, and no idling fuel burn, the Cybertruck platform provides higher uptime, lower total cost of ownership, and a quieter patrol experience, all while reducing the department’s carbon footprint. Sheriff McMahill confirmed each area command will receive one of the new patrol units.

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Tesla Sweden faces new pressure in Sweden as Assa Abloy joins union action

The sympathy strike will block Assa Abloy’s 330 employees across six Swedish facilities from servicing or maintaining locks and gates used at Tesla Sweden’s sites.

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Credit: NicklasNilsso14/X

The labor standoff between Tesla and Sweden’s IF Metall union has widened again, this time pulling in Assa Abloy Industrial, a manufacturer of industrial doors and locks. 

IF Metall announced a new sympathy strike halting all Assa Abloy services for Tesla, set to take effect November 4, according to Dagens Arbete (DA). The move is aimed at further pressuring Tesla into signing a collective agreement after nearly two years of ongoing labor conflict.

New strike targets Tesla’s industrial operations

The sympathy strike will block Assa Abloy’s 330 employees across six Swedish facilities from servicing or maintaining locks and gates used at Tesla Sweden’s sites. IF Metall hopes the measure will disrupt Tesla’s daily operations and highlight the growing solidarity among Swedish companies.

Assa Abloy becomes the latest in a line of firms drawn into the dispute, with the Swedish Mediation Institute now logging fourteen conflict notices since September. The escalation shows that unions and partner industries are aligning to support of IF Metall’s campaign to secure a collective bargaining deal, something Tesla has consistently resisted.

IF Metall says Tesla must understand Sweden’s labor model

IF Metall chair Marie Nilsson recently reiterated her call for Tesla Sweden to reconsider its stance on organized labor, noting that Sweden’s union system differs sharply from the more adversarial model in the United States. 

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“I can certainly understand that Elon Musk and Tesla are skeptical of the trade union movement,” Nilsson said. “They have experience with American unions that operate in a completely different environment and that have to be militant in a different way.”

Nilsson emphasized that Swedish unions function cooperatively and that signing a collective agreement locally does not commit Tesla to similar deals elsewhere. “Let’s give us a chance,” she added. “It is the practical system we have here to regulate the conditions.”

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