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UAW sets up organizing committee at Tesla's Fremont factory

Tesla is happy to do things differently than other automakers, from the company-owned stores to the all-electric drivetrain. It also doesn't use union workers at its factory in Fremont, California (the former NUMMI plant, pictured). But now the United Auto Workers (UAW) is testing the waters for representation at the plant, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. UAW President Bob King has revealed that the UAW has created an organizing committee in Fremont. How this would change things at Tesla – and whether it would be a good or bad thing – is not really known, but it would certainly make the EV company more like the Big Three in this one aspect. We heard rumblings of unions at Tesla in 2010, when Toyota and Tesla announced they were going to collaborate on developing EVs. At that time, the United Auto Workers said it wanted union workers back at the plant, especially some of the 4,500 who ended up unemployed after the General Motors/Toyota partnership that built cars at NUMMI was shut down. That didn't happen, but Tesla has called unionization a 'risk' to business in a financial report. Tesla CEO Elon Musk at least has a plan for running his shop both with and without a union. As he told Wired in 2009, "Most of our experienced factory workers come from unionized environments, and we asked them what benefit did they see in unions. They said, 'Well, if their boss was an asshole, they had recourse.' I said, 'Let's make a rule: There will be no assholes.' I fired someone for being an asshole. And I only had to do that once, actually." Tesla declined comment to AutoblogGreen about the new union rumblings, but when we spoke with Musk in 2012, he described the longer-than-average work hours: Right now we're working six days a week. Some people are working seven days a week – I do – but for a lot of people, working seven days a week is not sustainable. The factory is operational seven days a week but most people we only ask to work six days a week right now and, obviously, we want to get that to a more reasonable number. I think people can sustain a 50-hour work week. I think that's a good work week. If you're joining Tesla, you're joining a company to work hard. We're not trying to sell you a bill of goods. If you can go work for another company and then maybe you can work a 40-hour work week. But if you work for Tesla, the minimum is really a 50-hour week and there are times when it'll be 60- to 80-hour weeks.

Tesla Model S finally has its date with a dyno

The performance abilities - and even the burnout potential - of the Tesla Model S has already been well documented, but, surprisingly, we haven't yet seen the all-electric luxury hatchback strapped to a dyno. Fortunately, the crew over at Dragtimes has posted a video that finally gave us some real-world numbers for the family- and environmentally friendly Tesla.
As the article points out, the results might be off a little (on the low side) due to the run not starting from a dead stop, but the numbers are impressive nonetheless. Immediately upon throttle application, the dyno records almost 300 horsepower at zero miles per hour, and power peaks at 368 hp at around 55 mph (we imagine the "386HP" quoted on the video title is a typo) before trailing off to around 220 hp closer to the car's limited 130-mph top speed. This compares quite favorably to the power numbers provided by Tesla putting max output at 416 hp; the dyno provided no torque figures for the car. Dragtimes also believes this number bodes well for the car on the track, too, quoting a quarter-mile time of 12.2 seconds at 112 mph.
The video of the quiet, zero-emission dyno session is posted below, so check it out.

Analyst predicts GM will buy Tesla in 2014

There's little question that Tesla has come at the automotive industry as an outsider. But will it last as an outsider for much longer? Not if you ask Yra Harris of Praxis Trading. According to USA Today, the veteran financial analyst recently predicted on CNBC that General Motors will try to buy Tesla in 2014.
It certainly wouldn't be the first time that GM acquired another automaker. It did just that when it purchased the rights to the Hummer brand from AM General in 1999 and completed its takeover of Saab the year after. But, of course, The General has since divested from both, shutting down its Pontiac and Saturn brands in the process. Daewoo and Oldsmobile are gone too, as is Geo. Chevrolet is to be withdrawn from Europe, and over the past few years, GM has sold its minority stake in Isuzu, Subaru, Suzuki and PSA Peugeot-Citroën as well.
Of course, none of these are dedicated electric carmakers like Tesla is, and the Volt may not be doing as well as Detroit had initially hoped. But does that mean it's ready to start expanding its brand portfolio again? With all due respect to Mr. Harris, somehow we doubt it - especially with Tesla currently enjoying sky-high market valuation. The company's market capitalization stands at over $18 billion - more than 100-plus times its earnings. That would make mounting a Tesla takeover a hugely risky and costly endeavor unless Wall Street tempers its stock value greatly.