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Tesla now California's top automotive employer

Tesla has knocked off Toyota as the biggest auto employer in the state of California, employing over 6,000 people to the Japanese company's 5,300. That lead is only likely to grow, as the EV manufacturer prepares to add another 500 jobs by the end of the year, and as Toyota begins its relocation to its new North American headquarters in Texas. The news comes barely a week after the company announced a $50 million loss during the first quarter of 2014.
Tesla's statewide employment could be set to double, beyond even 6,500 people, if it follows through on rumors to construct its eagerly awaited gigafactory in the Golden State. The $5-billion venture could add another 6,500 employees, making Tesla not just the largest automotive employer in the state, but making it one of the largest employers in the state full stop.
The investment of Tesla and its founder (and real-life Tony Stark), Elon Musk, has been substantial. The company has added 3,000 employees in the state since 2013, reopening the Toyota and General Motors joint-venture factory that use to be known as NUMMI in 2009 and constructing a design studio in Los Angeles, all in addition to its Palo Alto headquarters.

GM CEO Akerson calls out Tesla, says Cadillac will compete on EVs

Cadillac will be taking on Tesla Motors, the underdog EV manufacturer that's seen heaps of critical acclaim and stock market buzz with its most recent sedan, the Model S. "If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac," Dan Akerson, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, told media in Washington, according to The Detroit News.
Akerson continued, telling The News, "We'll sell more Volts and lose less money on the Volts than they'll lose on the Model S." He also took time to point out that Tesla getting vehicles out to customers isn't a guarantee of success or permanence, using Fisker as an example, saying "Does anybody even remember Fisker? I mean, there were a number of them; they are all gone."
This strong talk from Akerson comes after Doug Parks, another GM exec, let slip that the Detroit-based manufacturer has an EV in the works that will cover 200 miles per charge and only cost about $30,000, a massive upgrade over similarly priced EVs that struggle to top 100 miles per charge. Until that vehicle arrives, though, GM is preparing the Cadillac ELR, a small coupe that, like the Volt with which it shares technology, uses a gas engine as a mobile generator to recharge the batteries. Akerson took aim at Tesla again, saying, "But I do think when the ELR comes out late this year, early next - it's certainly the same postal code as Tesla, but now we're going to move up. It's not going to be a mass-produced car."

Driver of stolen Tesla involved in fiery crash dies

On July 4, someone reportedly stole a Tesla Model S from a Tesla store in Los Angeles and, after driving it at speeds over 100 miles per hour, crashed into a light pole, splitting the car in two, causing a fire and severely damaging other cars and injuring their occupants. The fact that the driver survived the fiery wreck was surprising to experts, but now we have news that the driver has passed away. The driver, 26-year-old Joshua Michael Flot of Inglewood, CA, actually passed away July 7 but the news and his identity were not announced until today so the police could notify his family. As far as we know, this is the first death involving a driver or passenger in a Tesla Model S. According to safety experts Bloomberg interviewed, the crash and the fire should have killed Flot immediately. "It looked like a non-survivable crash," said Casey Grant of the National Fire Protection Association. Bloomberg has more on how dangerous a steel pole crash can be, here. Indeed, the pictures are astonishing, with the Model S completely destroyed and one half of the car wedged into a nearby building. Tesla spokesman Simon Sproule issued a statement that said, "We are saddened by the harm that resulted from the July 4 theft and crash. We are assisting the authorities as needed as they continue their investigations."