"The United Auto Workers has notched a lot of wins in the last few days in standoffs with the Detroit automakers over electric vehicles and their batteries — but with an asterisk.

New tentative agreements — on Wednesday with Ford; on Saturday with Stellantis, maker of brands like Dodge, Ram and Jeep; and on Monday with General Motors — help assure that workers will play a large role in making EVs and at higher wages than they might have expected.

But the deals come as many auto buyers are balking at EVs’ high sticker prices. Automakers in turn are slowing their EV investments, which raises questions about what workers will ultimately win, and whether traditional automakers will continue to prosper as they compete with a dominant Tesla."

David Ferris reports for E&E News October 31, 2023. [2]