What did you miss? #WDYM Week 48 2023

??? Charlie Munger, the investing sage who made a fortune even before he became Warren Buffett’s right-hand man at Berkshire Hathaway, dies at the age of 99.

???? The Swedish Transport Agency must let Tesla collect its license plates from the manufacturer Scandinavian Motor center after workers' strike has blocked their requests for license plates for new vehicles.

????A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board has dismissed a case against Tesla filed by the Workers United union accusing it of illegally terminating dozens of New York employees in response to a unionization campaign.

?? Volkswagen's 10 billion euro savings programme will include staff reductions as brand chief Thomas Schaefer warned that high costs and low productivity were making its cars uncompetitive. The German carmaker is in the midst of negotiations with its works council over a cost-cutting scheme at its VW brand, the first step in a group-wide drive to boost efficiency in the transition to electric cars.

?? Nissan plans to invest up to ￡3 billion ($3.8 billion) into its British electric vehicle (EV) business. The majority of this investment, approximately ￡2 billion ($2.5 billion), will be directed toward upgrading its Sunderland plant for the production of three new electric models.

?? Lotus has unveiled a 450 kW fast charger. Five minutes of charging can add up to 88 miles. It's already available in China and expected to launch in most European and Middle Eastern countries in the second quarter of 2024.

?????? Australian state and federal governments have decided to crack down on reliability issues in the country’s EV fast charging network, imposing a new standard that will require all state-funded installations to be working at least 98 per cent of the time.

?? Taiwanese Tesla supplier Hota retools supply chain with first US factory.

?? Geely becomes the latest Chinese auto giant after Changan to enter into a partnership with Nio on battery swap.

?? GM will slash spending at Cruise “by hundreds of millions of dollars” in 2024, any plans for Cruise moving forward would be more “deliberate.”

?? Nvidia posted a job ad on November 28 to recruit talent for its autonomous driving China team, which is led by former Xpeng smart driving chief Wu Xinzhou.

?? Honda has withdrawn its Honda e electric model from the European market.

?? ABB and SPIE-Ekoenergetyka to supply Belgian public transport company De Lijn with up to 1,600 new depot charging points for electric buses over a period of eight years.

??? BYD's battery manufacturing unit, FinDreams, completed the export of large lithium power batteries by air on November 24, marking the first time China-made large lithium power battery packs have been exported by air.

?? The next-gen Nissan LEAF - the first volume EV in the world - will not be made in the US, ending a decade of domestic production. Sources said the decision will make the Leaf ineligible for tax incentives, which could slash demand in half and threaten Nissan’s EV comeback in the U.S.

?? Mercedes-Benz plans to stop building the EQS SUV in the United States and will shift production to Germany.

?? EVs in model years 2021-24 suffered about twice as many reliability problems as internal combustion engines, or ICE, according to Consumer Report’s survey of about 70,000 vehicles... EVs have 79% more problems than ICE vehicles, according to CR’s survey.

?? Starlink satellite network will only be allowed to operate in Gaza with Israeli approval.

?? In a rare acquisition, SpaceX has purchased out of bankruptcy a company that provided components for Dragon spacecraft parachutes.