The family of a man who died in a crash involving a Tesla Cybertruck filed a lawsuit against the automaker, alleging a defective design and other claims.

The lawsuit, filed in Harris County district court in Texas, stated that in August 2024, 47-year-old Michael Sheehan’s Cybertruck veered off the road, hit a culvert and caught fire, trapping Sheehan inside a blaze that allegedly reached 5,000 degrees Fahrenhei

Italian Designer Andrea Marazzi recently chopped up a 1993 Fiat Panda to create the world's narrowest EV, a historic feat that yielded a fully-drivable car that's only 50 cm (less than 20 inches) wide.

Marazzi started with the chassis of an old Fiat Panda, cutting it vertically, and sandwiching the parts together to make a single seat EV from recycled components. Marazzi used his family's auto recycling business and workshop to make about 99 percent of the car from original parts.

Reports from Forbes and Bloomberg suggest that one of Tesla’s executive officers has left the company.

Forbes reported Thursday morning that CEO Elon Musk fired Omead Afshar, the head of operations in Europe and North America. Bloomberg rep orted later that day that Afshar “left the company.”

Factory tours commonly come to mind for tourists looking to experience local landmarks. Boeing, Jelly Belly and Louisville Slugger all offer popular behind-the-scenes outings. But it’s doubtful any of those are as popular as what Xiaomi is offering in China.

The consumer electronics giant has recently broken into the automotive space. It currently offers the SU7 full-size sedan and it’s working on the YU7 mid-size. It sold just 135,000 vehicles in 2024, though it expects to more than double that this year. But its factory tours have already become so popular that Xiaomi had to introduce a lottery.

Blue Diamond has announced plans to wind down operations at its plant in Sacramento, California, cutting some 600 jobs in the process.

The company says it was founded in 1910 to "ensure the long-term success of small, multigenerational almond farmers and their families in California."

To keep that mission on track, the company must shutter its plant in midtown Sacramento, transferring most manufacturing operations from its 53-acre-site to facilities in Turlock and Salida, California.

The company says a former employee took proprietary recipes and other information to his new job.

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast that asks young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

For this episode, I welcome Thomas Lesueur, a 26-year-old student pursuing a Ph.D. in microelectronics at the University of Sherbrooke in Canada, in partnership with IBM.

Lesueur said he first became interested in manufacturing during a one-week internship with a company that specialized in composite materials, where his father worked as an R&D director. His education includes a bachelor’s degree in physics and chemistry and a master’s in nanophysics and microelectronics.

His current research involves self-alignment of silicon bridges for high-performance electronics and focuses on leveraging the capillary forces of solder paste to achieve precise alignment of the bridges during the reflow process.

Lesueur presented some of the work at this year’s Electronic Components and Technology Conference.

In this episode, Lesueur discusses:

• How students pursue education and employment in France versus the U.S (1:13)
• The best advice a manufacturing mentor can give (8:01)
• The work-life balance Gen Z searches for (10:06)
• How to find a generational middle ground regarding dependence on technology (13:31)
• Top ways to pique Gen Z interest (17:36)

Please make sure to like and share this episode. To view previous episodes, visit manufacturing.net. If you are a member of Gen Z and would like to discuss your experience in the manufacturing industry, please contact Nolan Beilstein at nolan@ien.com.

GM didn’t fare much better.