Good morning! Welcome to The Morning Shift, your roundup of the auto news you crave, all in one place every weekday morning. Here are the stories you need to know.

Manufacturing expert Sandy Munro, CEO of a Michigan-based engineering firm that dismantles and studies cars, has changed his tune when it comes to the Tesla Model 3. He had criticized the car’s build quality, comparing it to that of a “Kia in the ’90s.” But now, after Munro & Associates completed a full teardown and…

The internet, and the astounding degree of personal connection it gives to all of us, is absolutely incredible. But at the same time, it makes me nostalgic for the days when we had to wait for our heroes to die and bitter tell-all books to be published to find out what pieces of shit they were.

Good morning! Welcome to The Morning Shift, your roundup of the auto news you crave, all in one place every weekday morning. Here are the stories you need to know.

In a June 2017 meeting with Tesla employees, CEO Elon Musk solicited their complaints about safety issues and promised to address their concerns, so long as they refrained from trying to organize a union, the National Labor Relations Board alleges.

Less than a week ago, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was in a Thailand cave with a mini-submarine his team made that didn’t quite work out for the daring rescue of 12 boys and a soccer coach trapped inside. Now, he says he wants to help resolve Flint, Michigan’s water contamination crisis. Expectedly, this latest…

Bloomberg is out this morning with a a well-reported, well-sourced deep-dive into Tesla’s ongoing Model 3 production hell, which is worth reading in full. I will highlight a few passages here, though, one revealing an episode of absurdist horror and the other, well, the other is just very, very bleak.

Tesla has confirmed it delivered its 200,000th vehicle in the U.S. this month, meaning the phase-out of the $7,500 federal electric vehicle tax credit prospective customers can take advantage of has begun. By Jan. 1, that amount will be cut in half.

The Tesla Model 3 already has a performance version on the way, but if you don’t want to wait around for that, you can get a lot more out of the electric car just from upgrading the tires, brakes and suspension.

Tesla put up big numbers in the second quarter of 2018, having delivered a total of 40,740 vehicles to Model S, X, and 3 customers. But the increase to production drew Tesla ever closer to the ceiling for the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit that customers can take advantage of. Tesla won’t say if it reached that…

A former Tesla technician accused by the automaker of stealing reams of confidential data and leaking it to outside sources now has an attorney, and he’s doubling down on his allegation that Tesla made misstatements to investors about placing punctured batteries into Model 3s that were shipped to customers.

The time has now come: Even if you didn’t reserve one during the Eisenhower administration, you can now order a Tesla Model 3. Of course, you can’t order a $35,000 Model 3 because that doesn’t exist. But the SpaceX submarine does exist and is currently just left in a cave, so if you want that maybe Elon will let you…

Good morning! Welcome to The Morning Shift, your roundup of the auto news you crave, all in one place every weekday morning. Here are the stories you need to know.

Tesla now wants to build a factory in China with an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles, according to reports. The planned project comes just one day after Tesla hiked prices for the Model S and Model X in China due to a brewing trade war with the U.S.

No matter how close the electric takeover of the auto industry seems, there’s always the occasional reminder that the future isn’t as perfect or as within reach as we imagine. Take this Tesla-based Electric GT Championship race car, which only made it a lap and a half at full power recently before getting too hot.

Ever since the Tesla Model 3 debuted we’ve been wondering a nagging question. Questions about its production rate, build quality, and worker conditions were all mere breezes rustling past our ears compared to The Big One. The Thing On All Of Our Minds. Can the Tesla Model 3 drift? It turns out that yes, yes it can.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has opened a new investigation into Tesla, after receiving a complaint from one of the automaker’s employees at its assembly plant in Fremont, California, a spokesperson confirmed. It’s not immediately clear what the complaint entailed.

We’re Tesla shills. We’re Tesla shortsellers. We’re in bed with Tesla. We want to kill Tesla to do a favor for the traditional automakers and big oil. Here at Jalopnik, we’ve been accused of tons of things in regards to Elon Musk’s electric car company, and it’s because that company generates a lot of news that’s…

Good morning! Welcome to The Morning Shift, your roundup of the auto news you crave, all in one place every weekday morning. Here are the stories you need to know.

Tesla’s milestone on Monday that it made 5,000 Model 3s in a single week, a long sought goal for the automaker, is being dimmed by the departure of another executive. Doug Field, Tesla’s top vehicle engineer, is leaving the company for good, after stepping away for a reported leave of absence in May.