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. The first 30 cars, now accepted to be largely... Tesla engineers 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. The first 30 cars, now accepted to be largely... 
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 Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan. Ford also builds... 
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... 
Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, is expected to announce that it will invest up to $1 billion to build electric SUVs and batteries in and around its Alabama assembly plant. The plans, first reported reported Thursday in The Wall Street Journal (paywalled), represent a major expansion of electric-car manufacturing in the U.S. So far... 
General Motors didn't have to construct an all-new assembly plant to build its affordable, mass-market Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car. In fact, it produces the electric car at the existing Orion assembly plant in Michigan, which opened in 1983. That's not the most interesting aspect of Bolt EV production, though: GM actually builds the... 
The question of where consumer goods are made has become more prominent in our political discourse of late, cars among them. Every automobile sold in the U.S. carries a listing of content sources, specifying what percentage by value of its overall content comes from which countries or regions. Electric cars, it turns out, have some anomalies... 
Toyota is one of the largest global automakers, while Mazda is one of the smallest. A new report suggests that the two Japanese makers are close to finalizing a capital-investment deal under which Toyota would take 5 percent of Mazda, and the smaller maker would invest in Toyota as well, and the two would set up a joint U.S. assembly plant... 
Quick trivia question: how many plants are there in the United States currently building electric cars? To be generous, we'll allow both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models. Any idea? The answer turns out to be four. DON'T MISS: Shanghai auto show: China plugs into electric cars in a big way Meanwhile, China—which has a long-term goal... 
It takes people to make cars: to lift and install parts, check quality, test-drive them after assembly, and so forth. Automation has eliminated many of the jobs performed by humans a century ago on the Ford Model T line, and made the rest much less physically punishing for line workers. But electric cars pose a new threat: they will require even... 
When it launched its Phaeton luxury sedan back in 2002, Volkswagen decided that its most opulent car ever should have an equally opulent assembly plant. So it built the "Transparent Factory," a glass-walled plant in Dresden, Germany, that was intended solely to handle Phaeton production. The Phaeton was a vanity project of VW Group's... 
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 the Model 3 into production on schedule. DON'T...