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Ford announces $3.7bn investment into EV and ICE projects, 6,200 new UAW jobs

United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Company leaders today announced plans to add more than 6,200 new U.S. manufacturing jobs in the Midwest, convert nearly 3,000 temporary UAW-Ford workers to permanent full-time status and provide all hourly employees healthcare benefits on the first day of employment.

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Ford Motor Company announced today it would invest $3.7 billion into the development of new electric and combustion engine vehicle projects, including new versions of the gas-powered Mustang and Ranger pickup. The investment will add an additional 6,200 UAW jobs to three of its factories located in the midwest.

Ford announced that a portion of the $3.7 billion would go toward retooling three of its plants, which are located in Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri, for electrification projects:

  • Michigan: $2 billion investment and 3,200 union jobs, including the creation of nearly 2,000 jobs throughout three assembly plants in Michigan to increase production of the all-new F-150 Lightning electric truck to 150,000 per year at Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, produce an all-new Ranger pickup at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne and an all-new Mustang coupe at Flat Rock Assembly Plant. The investment also includes $35 million to build an all-new Ford Customer Service Division packaging facility in Monroe that will create more than 600 union jobs, with operations expected to begin in 2024 to help accelerate parts shipments for Ford customers
  • Ohio: $1.5 billion investment and 1,800 union jobs at Ohio Assembly Plant to assemble an all-new EV commercial vehicle starting mid-decade, along with an additional 90 jobs and $100 million investment between Lima Engine and Sharonville Transmission plants
  • Missouri: $95 million investment and 1,100 union jobs for a third shift at Kansas City Assembly Plant to increase production of the Transit, America’s best-selling commercial van, and the all-new E-Transit electric van

3,000 temporary factory employees will be transitioned to full-time status in addition to the 6,200 jobs Ford will create with the investment. These employees will receive pay raises and health-care benefits, effective immediately, the company said.

“The essential necessity of quality healthcare and full-time employment are longstanding principles that have been communicated to the company by the UAW International Union and our UAW local unions since our inception,” Chuck Browning, UAW VP and Director of the Ford Department said. “I applaud the actions of Ford Motor Company to address these issues outside the realm of collective bargaining. These unprecedented steps taken by Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley are both a refreshing and innovative approach to labor relations that delivers great benefit when most needed by our hardworking members.”

Ford F-150 Lightning customer deliveries are beginning

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Unfortunately for EV fans who were hoping Ford would begin to ditch its ICE projects, the company will work toward developing an all-new version of the Mustang coupe and Ranger pickup in North America. Ford is still dependent on some of its ICE vehicles for profitability and operating costs but will phase these vehicles out in alignment with its fully-electric commitment, which is set to begin in 2035, joining General Motors and Mercedes-Benz.

The investment will era in the development of a new commercial electric vehicle for Ford Pro customers.

“We’re investing in American jobs and our employees to build a new generation of incredible Ford vehicles and continue our Ford+ transformation,” CEO Jim Farley said regarding the investment. “Transforming our company for the next era of American manufacturing requires new ways of working, and together with UAW leadership, we are leading the way and moving fast to make improvements to benefits for our hourly employees and working conditions for our factory teams.”

Farley has been arguably one of the most committed automotive CEOs in terms of electrification transitions. Ford has made numerous strides under Farley’s leadership and has set lofty goals for the automaker to keep up with industry leader Tesla.

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Ford will hold a press event at 10:30 am ET to officially announce the investment. It can be viewed at this link.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla Semi gets new product launch as mass manufacturing hits Plaid Mode

While the 1.2 MW Megacharger handles quick 30-minute en-route boosts, the Basecharger serves as a reliable overnight solution for longer dwell times at warehouses, distribution centers, fleet yards, and even, potentially, homes.

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Credit: Tesla

The Tesla Semi is getting a new production launch as mass manufacturing on the all-electric truck is gearing up to hit Plaid Mode.

Tesla has introduced a game-changing addition to its commercial charging lineup with the new 125 kW Basecharger for Semi. Launched this week as part of the new “Semi Charging for Business” program, this compact unit is purpose-built for depot and overnight charging of Tesla Semi trucks.

While the 1.2 MW Megacharger handles quick 30-minute en-route boosts, the Basecharger serves as a reliable overnight solution for longer dwell times at warehouses, distribution centers, fleet yards, and even, potentially, homes.

Delivering up to 60 percent of the Semi’s range in roughly four hours, perfect for overnight top-ups during mandated driver rest periods or while trucks are loaded or unloaded. Its fully integrated design eliminates the need for bulky separate AC-to-DC cabinets.

Tesla engineers tucked one of the power modules from a V4 Supercharger Cabinet directly inside the sleek post, resulting in a compact footprint. It also features a six-meter cable for layout flexibility. This is one thing that must have been learned through the V4 Supercharger rollout.

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Installation and operating costs drop dramatically thanks to daisy-chaining. Up to three Basechargers can share a single 125 kVA breaker, slashing electrical infrastructure requirements. The unit outputs 150 amps continuous across an 180–1,000 VDC range, matching the Semi’s high-voltage architecture while supporting the MCS 3.2 standard.

Tesla Semi sends clear message to Diesel rivals with latest move

Priced from $40,000 for a minimum order of two units, the Basecharger is far more affordable than the $188,000 Megacharger setup for two posts. Deliveries begin in early 2027. Buyers also receive Tesla’s full network-level software, remote monitoring, maintenance, and a guaranteed 97 percent or higher uptime—critical for fleet reliability.

This launch arrives as Tesla accelerates high-volume Semi production at its Nevada factory, targeting 50,000 units annually. By pairing affordable depot charging with ultra-fast highway options, Tesla removes one of the biggest obstacles to electrifying Class 8 trucking: infrastructure cost and complexity.

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Fleet operators stand to gain lower electricity rates during off-peak hours, dramatically reduced maintenance compared to diesel, and quieter yards at night. The Basecharger isn’t just another charger—it’s the practical bridge that makes large-scale electric semi adoption economically viable.

With the Basecharger handling “home” duties and Megachargers powering the road, Tesla is delivering a complete ecosystem that could finally tip the scales toward zero-emission freight. For trucking companies ready to go electric, the future just got a whole lot more charger-friendly.

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Tesla revises new Intervention Reporting system with Full Self-Driving

It is the second revision to the program as Tesla is trying to make it easier to decipher driver and owner complaints, but also to make it easier to report issues within the suite for them.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has revised its new Intervention Reporting system within the Full Self-Driving suite that now categorizes reasons that drivers take over when the semi-autonomous driving functionality is active.

It is the second revision to the program as Tesla is trying to make it easier to decipher driver and owner complaints, but also to make it easier to report issues within the suite for them.

With the initial rollout of Full Self-Driving v14.3.2, Tesla included a new reporting menu that gave four options for an intervention: Preference, Comfort, Critical, and Other. A slightly revised version of Full Self-Driving with the same ID number then came out a few days later, changing the “Other” option to “Navigation” after numerous complaints from owners.

It appears Tesla has listened to those owners once again and has not only made it smaller and more compact, but also easier to report the issues than previously.

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The new menu is now embedded within the request for a Voice Memo from Tesla, and does not block the entire screen, as the second rollout of the menu was:

There will likely be one additional revision to the Interventions Menu, as we have coined it here at Teslarati.

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Unfortunately, at times, there are no reasons for an intervention at all, but the menu does not give an option to simply disregard the reporting and forces the driver to choose one of the options. We, as well as other notable Tesla influencers, indicated that there is not always a reason for an intervention.

For example, I choose to back into my parking spot in my neighborhood at least some of the time for the reason of charging. I usually hit “Preference” for this, but it sends a false positive to Tesla that there was a reason I took over that I was unhappy with.

Tesla begins probing owners on FSD’s navigation errors with small but mighty change

Instead, I’m simply performing a maneuver that is not yet available to us. When Tesla allows drivers to choose the orientation at which their car enters a parking spot, I and many others won’t have to deal with this menu.

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Others are still skeptical that it will help resolve any issues whatsoever and prefer to disregard the menu altogether. It does seem as if Tesla will issue another revision in the coming days to allow this to happen.

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California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law

California just gave police power to ticket driverless cars, including Tesla’s Cybercab fleet.

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Concept rendering of Tesla Cybercab being cited by CA Highway Patrol (Credit: Grok)

California DMV formally adopted new rules on April 29, 2026 that allow law enforcement to issue “notices of noncompliance”, or in other words ticket autonomous vehicle companies when their cars commit moving violations. The rules take effect July 1, 2026 and officially closes a regulatory gap that previously let driverless cars operate on public roads with nearly no traffic enforcement consequences.

Until now, state traffic laws only applied to human “drivers,” which meant that when no person was behind the wheel, police had no mechanism to issue a ticket. Officers were limited to citing driverless vehicles for parking violations only. A well-known example came in September 2025, when a San Bruno officer watched a Waymo robotaxi execute an illegal U-turn and could do nothing but notify the company.

Under the new framework, when an officer observes a violation, the autonomous vehicle company is effectively treated as the driver. Companies must report each incident to the DMV within 72 hours, or 24 hours if a collision is involved. Repeated violations can result in fleet size restrictions, operational suspensions, or full permit revocation. Local officials also gained new authority to geofence driverless vehicles out of active emergency zones within two minutes and require a live emergency response line answered within 30 seconds.

Tesla Cybercab ramps Robotaxi public street testing as vehicle enters mass production queue

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California’s new enforcement rules arrive at a pivotal moment for Tesla. The company is ramping Cybercab production at Giga Texas toward hundreds of units per week, targeting at least 2 million units annually at full capacity, while simultaneously pushing to expand its Robotaxi service to dozens of U.S. cities by end of 2026. Unsupervised FSD for consumer vehicles is currently targeted for Q4 2026, and when it arrives, Tesla’s fleet may not have a human to absorb legal accountability, under the July 1 rules.

Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its Robotaxi service to seven new cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, with the service already running without safety drivers in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.

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