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Gizmodo
32 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
After the Mustang, Ford Is Teasing the Return of Another Beloved Car As an EV
Ford is promising a revolution. The company plans to make a big announcement on August 11 about its electric vehicle future, an event it is hyping as a 'Model T moment.' In a blog post, Ford invoked the spirit of its most iconic creation, the car that 'put the world on wheels' by making transportation 'accessible to the masses.' The message is clear: Ford believes it is on the verge of launching a breakthrough EV that is both capable and, crucially, affordable. But what is it? A new clue, uncovered by the site Ford Authority, suggests that Ford's futuristic revolution will be powered by a ghost from its past. Just days before its big announcement, Ford has filed a new trademark for the name 'Ranchero,' specifically for use on 'Electric vehicles,' namely 'pick-up trucks.' For Ford, this is a familiar playbook. The company has mastered the art of raiding its own archives, using beloved, gas-guzzling names from its history to sell a radically new electric future. They did it with the Mustang Mach-E, weathering a storm of outrage from purists to turn it into a best-selling electric SUV. They did it again with the F-150 Lightning, attaching their most trusted truck name to their flagship EV pickup. And with the Maverick, they revived another classic name to win over a new generation of buyers. The Ranchero trademark filing signals that Ford is about to do it again. But this time, the stakes are even higher. The company is promising 'breakthrough electric vehicles' made in America. According to reports, Ford is developing a low-cost electric platform meant to underpin a range of future models, starting with a midsize pickup. That strategy could give Ford a weapon in the fight for EV affordability, a challenge even Tesla hasn't fully solved. The Ranchero nameplate hasn't been seen on U.S. roads since 1979, but its history is unlike anything else in Ford's lineup. Launched in 1957, the original Ranchero blurred the lines between car and truck, offering the comfort and style of a sedan with the practicality of a pickup bed. It quickly found a following among farmers, tradespeople, and California surfers alike. It competed head-to-head with Chevrolet's El Camino, part of a wave of so-called 'car-truck hybrids' that traced their lineage back to Australian 'utes' of the 1930s, multipurpose vehicles that could haul hay bales in the morning and churchgoers in the afternoon. Ford is clearly leaning into the symbolism. In the blog post, the company's heritage team invoked the birth of the Model T, the 1908 car that put the world on wheels by making personal transportation accessible to the masses. Born in secrecy on the third floor of Ford's Piquette Plant, the Model T was designed to be universal: affordable, repairable, and adaptable for everything from climbing Pike's Peak to serving as a snowmobile. Ford says it wants to recreate that breakthrough, this time with EVs. 'Now Ford is going back to its roots for another Model T moment,' the company wrote. 'Ford leaders will share more about our plans to design and assemble breakthrough electric vehicles in America.' If the Ranchero is part of that vision, it could bring back the practicality and personality of the car-pickup hybrid for a new generation. This time powered by electrons, not gasoline. And if history is any guide, the electric version of the Ranchero could bridge the gap between work and play in a market where most EV pickups still aim for size and luxury, not versatility and price.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air Force wants to buy Tesla Cybertrucks to blow up for target practice, report says
The Air Force is looking to buy Tesla Cybertrucks to blow up for target practice. The service was looking to buy two Cybertrucks to use as targets for precision-guided munitions, citing concerns that enemies may soon start to use them on the battlefield, according to federal contracting documents shared online. The Cybertrucks - made by Elon Musk's Tesla - are among 33 target vehicles that the Air Force Test Center is ordering for 'live missile fire testing' at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. There are no other name-brand requirements for the other vehicles on the training center's shopping list, which also includes sedans, bongo trucks, pickup trucks and SUVs. According to the contract, the two Cybertrucks had to be towable, but not functional, and have all fluids drained before their delivery. The news of the request for Cybertrucks was first published by The War Zone. In a document detailing why the Tesla vehicles were specifically needed, the contract noted it was 'likely' that U.S. adversaries may start to use Cybertrucks on the battlefield. 'The type of vehicles used by the enemy may transition to Tesla Cyber trucks as they have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage expected upon major impact,' the document says. Musk, the Tesla CEO, claimed the Cybertruck was 'apocalypse proof' when he first launched the vehicle in 2023, but it was not immediately clear if the company would do anything to prevent the vehicles from getting into the hands of US enemies. Tesla and the US Air Force did not immediately return requests for comment from The Independent. News of the Air Force looking to conduct target practice on Cybertrucks comes two months after tech boss Musk and his longtime ally, President Donald Trump, had a very messy, public falling out. After Musk's time leading the Department of Government Efficiency came to a close in May, the two powerful men got into a very public fight that concluded with Musk issuing a grovelling apology, only to blow up again weeks later. After staging a farewell press conference in the Oval Office, Musk and Trump's relationship took a turn for the worst when Musk began to publicly criticize Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' Trump went on to claim that Musk was 'wearing thin,' as the two men traded blows on their respective social media platforms. The brawl eventually concluded with Musk posting, without evidence, 'Time to drop the really big bomb. @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' He later deleted the post. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Brawls, racism and cocaine: Lawsuit reveals life inside Tesla plant where Musk was directly involved with HR decisions
Working conditions at Tesla's manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, have allegedly gone from bad to worse, with sexual assaults aboard company shuttle buses, drug and alcohol use onsite, all-out brawls breaking out between employees and 'prevalent' bigotry – including widespread use of the N-word, a bombshell lawsuit reveals. In a 159-page federal lawsuit filed Thursday and obtained first by The Independent, Ozell Murray, a former Fresno police officer in charge of security at the 22,000-person factory, claims he and his team 'routinely' seized cocaine and fentanyl onsite, confiscated guns discovered in the building, investigated 'acts of sexual deviance' on Tesla grounds, and, at regular intervals, 'pulled employees off the manufacturing line and sent them home for being alcohol-intoxicated and high on drugs.' Those who reported the issues were fired over bogus charges or forced to resign, according to Murray's complaint, to which several of his ex-colleagues signed on as co-defendants. 'Healthy profits have always been more important to the Company than a healthy working environment,' the complaint alleges. 'For Tesla, more bodies on the manufacturing line meant more vehicles flying out the factory door – no matter how unclean the hands were that were assembling those cars.' Tesla's Model Y, Model S, Model 3 and Model X lines are manufactured in Fremont. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla in 2023 over allegations of unbridled racism at its Fremont plant. This spring, Tesla settled a lawsuit brought by a Black employee at the Fremont facility who accused a manager of greeting her by saying, 'Welcome to the plantation,' and, 'Welcome to the slave house.' A Tesla spokesperson did not respond on Friday to a request for comment. The complaint against Tesla, which was brought by Murray and former Tesla HR execs Linda Peloquin, Adam Chow, Tiara Paulino, Sharnique Martin and Gregory Vass, says Tesla CEO, and erstwhile presidential 'First Buddy.' Elon Musk – presently America's least-likable public figure, according to Gallup – was personally involved in many of the Fremont factory's hiring and firing decisions. 'Musk was a frequent visitor to the facility—and not just for high-level photo opportunities, but to take a hands-on approach to managing, directing, and facilitating resolution of the manufacturing and workforce issues at the plant,' the complaint states. 'Musk would frequently visit the plant and conduct issue-resolution meetings with actual line employees, not just upper management bureaucrats. Musk would hold – meetings with line-level employees from every function of the plant – from the manufacturing line to operations to HR – and issue directives right then and there to resolve the issues employees raised.' The complaint goes on to describe a significant portion of the carmaker's 'hastily-hired and poorly-vetted' workforce in Fremont as 'blatant racists and misogynists.' 'Many who have worked there have likened the workplace to the Jim Crow South; an environment in which Black employees and brown-skinned workers are besieged with constant racial abuse, stereotyping, and hostility – including with repeated use of inarguably the most brutal and degrading racial slur in the history of humanity: N****r,' according to the complaint. '... Black Tesla employees have reported regularly encountering nooses on desks and other equipment as well as seeing the word 'N****r' graffitied on walls, in bathroom stalls, elevators – even on new Tesla vehicles rolling off the production line.' The complaint filed by Murray and his former coworkers alleges that the 'use of the 'N-word' was prevalent' at Fremont. In late 2021, one of Murray's direct reports, a Black security officer who was also a former cop, 'was victimized when a Tesla employee called her a n****r,' the complaint states. 'Murray's colleague was so distressed by the incident and the impunity with which the word was used toward her… that she had to take a medical leave from work to recover from the trauma,' according to the complaint. 'Yet, instead of offering encouragement, Murray's supervisor… counseled him that Murray should be informing all new Black security personnel that the use of the 'N-word' was simply engrained [sic] in the culture at Tesla and, so, Murray should only be bringing aboard that are willing to accept and acquiesce to the prevalence of that word in the workplace.' In another incident indicative of the 'racial tension and toxicity' at Tesla's Fremont plant, the complaint says a Black assembly-line employee working on a vehicle called out a warning after he spotted a coworker about to do something that could potentially damage the car. According to the complaint, the coworker, who was white, 'responded by angrily yelling back, 'Do you want to hang by a tree?'' Supervisors were also known to abuse Tesla's 'zero tolerance' policy at the time for drug and alcohol use on the job, the complaint goes on. It says that if a higher-up suspected an employee was under the influence, they could report the person to security and Murray or someone from his team would then escort them off the premises 'without question.' However, in 'many instances,' the supposedly intoxicated employee did not appear that way to the security officer tasked with removing them, according to the complaint. 'As it turned out, many supervisors and managers were merely using the policy as a means to retaliate against their subordinates – and, in particular, when a line employee had turned down the supervisor or manager's sexual advances,' the complaint states. 'Or, when the manager or supervisor wanted to retaliate against someone because of their race or ethnicity. Or, when the manager or supervisor wanted to retaliate against someone because of a complaint an employee had lodged against them.' Yet, the complaint claims incidents such as these were swept under the rug by one specific Tesla manager who had 'an irrational fixation on fostering the delusion that the environment and culture at Tesla is one of tolerance and innovation, rather than racism and retaliation.' Because of sky-high demand for Tesla vehicles at the time, if a violent or racist Tesla employee were to actually get fired for cause, they were regularly 'loopholed' back in via a temp agency, according to the complaint. This, the filing says, allowed them to bypass the usual background check, and 'oftentimes' meant an employee who had been previously victimized 'had to actually resume working with their attacker and tormentor.' One loopholed employee who had been let go for workplace violence returned to Fremont and promptly attacked another colleague, the complaint states. For his part, the complaint says Murray 'was outspoken' with Tesla management about safety and security concerns in Fremont. For that, he wound up 'summarily fired under the pretextual guise of 'poor performance,'' even though he had never once been disciplined and was promoted five times in his six years with Tesla. Murray's co-defendants all endured similar experiences, being drummed off the payroll for supposed 'poor performance,' according to the complaint. Each of them had brought up serious concerns about issues at Tesla, or had investigated and substantiated employee wrongdoing, and were subsequently 'outright fired' for doing so, or resigned before they could be terminated, the complaint alleges. None had ever received any negative performance reviews, according to the complaint. Murray and his co-defendants are suing Tesla on five causes of action, including retaliation, wrongful termination and failure to prevent unlawful discrimination. They are seeking compensatory damages, emotional distress damages, punitive damages and exemplary damages to be determined by a jury, plus attorneys' fees and court costs.
