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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold a big chunk of the EV maker’s stock for the fourth time this year. Toyota, Denso, and IBM team up to boost Japan’s chip supply. Plus, a conversation with Aurora Innovation CEO Chris Urmson, one of the pioneers of autonomous driving technology.

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Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton asked for a new trial on charges he misled investors about the electric truck maker's prospects, arguing the jury convicted him due to bad instructions from the judge and because one juror lied to get on the panel.

Milton was found guilty in October of securities and wire fraud following a monthlong trial, a remarkable downfall for the door-to-door salesman turned billionaire who promised to revolutionize the auto industry. In court filings late Wednesday, his lawyers argued the jurors mistakenly believed that to convict their client of three of the four counts against him, they weren't required to find that he intended to deceive investors, when in fact they were.

"The extraordinary facts giving rise to this motion establish a disturbing reality: defendant Trevor Milton was found guilty on three counts even though the jury believed Mr. Milton lacked criminal intent and, if properly instructed, would have acquitted him on all …

A shooting Wednesday at an automotive supplier plant near Detroit left one man dead, according to police.

An argument among employees began Wednesday morning inside the Forvia plant in Highland Park, Mich., before spilling out into the gated parking lot where shots were fired, said Deputy Chief Darrell Patterson of the Highland Park Police Department.

A 40-year-old man was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead, Patterson said. A 29-year-old suspect was apprehended at the scene.

"It was some fight over tools and use of tools," Patterson said. "Several males got into a physical altercation. The fight was broken up by the security members, and those employees were sent home."

Forvia spokeswoman Misty Matthews said the plant was continuing to operate but some employees opted to go home after the shooting.

"Our priority is the safety of our team and supporting them in any way we can," Matthews said in a statement. "We are working closely…

Bosch North America Executive Vice President Paul Thomas talks about the world's largest supplier's decision to continue investing in traditional technologies while also spinning up its businesses around EVs and fuel cells. Plus, Redwood Materials announces a new $3.5 billion plant in South Carolina.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

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Android

“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify

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Canadian electric vehicle maker Lion Electric Co. plans a $50 million stock offering to strengthen its balance sheet and expand factories.

The Montreal company said the expansion will focus on factories in Joliet, Ill., and Mirabel, Quebec. Lion Electric manufactures electric buses and medium-size urban cargo trucks.

Lion Electric said in a Securities and Exchange filing that it expects to net roughly $47 million from the offering after U.S. and Canadian underwriters B. Riley Securities and National Bank Financial take their fee of $3.25 million. The underwriters are floating 19.7 million shares for $2.54 each.

If the offering on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges sells out, both companies will have the option to buy an additional 2.9 million shares at $2.54. Lion Electric shares were trading at just over $2 at midday on the NYSE on Wednesday.

The largest investor in Lion Electric is financial services conglomerate Power Corporation of Canad…

The Federal Reserve downshifted its rapid pace of interest-rate hikes while signaling that borrowing costs, now the highest since 2007, will rise more than investors anticipate as central bankers seek to ensure inflation keeps cooling.

The Federal Open Market Committee raised its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to a 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent target range. Policymakers projected rates would end next year at 5.1 percent, according to their median forecast, before being cut to 4.1 percent in 2024 -- a higher level than previously indicated.

The hawkish projections have the potential to jolt financial markets, where speculation that the Fed would soon pause its hikes has contributed to easier financial conditions.

It also raises the prospect of higher borrowing costs for new and used vehicles, and other forms of credit, notably mortgages. The rapid rise in interest rates this year has already slowed the housing and construction markets, key drivers of li…

BRUSSELS — In a major makeover, the Audi E-tron is getting a new name, a new look and substantial improvements that address what was considered its major drawback when it launched in 2018 as Volkswagen Group's first modern electric vehicle: uncompetitive range.

The first salable 2023 Audi Q8 E-tron rolled off its assembly line here Wednesday, driven by Plant Manager Volker Germann and now sporting an estimated range of up to 600 kilometers (373 miles) under the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure used in Europe.

The now Q8 E-tron, in both crossover and sportback versions, is expected to head to dealerships in the U.S. in mid-2023. Audi didn't release an expected range under EPA testing, but it would roughly translate to as much as 330 miles. By comparison, when the original E-tron arrived in the U.S. in 2019, it was rated at just 212 miles.

The Q8 E-tron's 600-kilometer maximum range will be available in the more aerodynamic sportback ver…

What had been a felony grand larceny and forgery case against a former Fuccillo Automotive Group executive has become a misdemeanor petty theft affair.

Joseph Pompo, 33, who had once been accused of stealing more than $1 million from the group, entered an Alford plea to a single count of petit larceny on Oct. 24. Sentencing is set for Feb. 15, 2023.

Jefferson County, N.Y., Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Nielsen said she couldn't comment on the case until sentencing.

Under an Alford plea, a defendant officially declares themselves to be not guilty while pleading guilty, according to Syracuse University law professor Todd Berger. The prosecution must present some evidence supporting its case before the judge can accept such a plea, Berger said.

Pompo, Fuccillo Automotive's former corporate director of finance, tax, finance-and-insurance operations and reinsurance, was arrested in February 2021 on suspicion of first-deg…

Longtime Georgia dealer Jim Ellis, founder of his namesake auto group, died Friday at his Duluth, Ga., home, just weeks after his son Jimmy Ellis, the company's CEO, died, the Ellis family said.

Jim Ellis was 90. No cause of death was shared.

All Jim Ellis Automotive locations will close Wednesday for his funeral, according to posts on the company's website and Facebook page.

"Mr. Ellis leaves behind a lasting legacy as a Christian, business leader, friend and servant in the Atlanta community and in the automotive industry," the family wrote in a statement. "Little did he know that his sacrifice 51 years ago, putting all he had on the line to open a Volkswagen dealership in Chamblee, would pay off in a way that would provide jobs for almost 1,700 Atlanta-area residents and result in millions of dollars contributed to people in need in metro Atlanta communities."

Born Jan. 5, 1932, Jim Ellis worked a range of jobs in his younger years, including in…

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin is urging the U.S. Treasury Department to prevent companies from using loopholes to bypass stringent eligibility rules in the Inflation Reduction Act's electric-vehicle tax credits.

In a letter sent Monday to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Manchin asked that the tax credit for commercial EVs is implemented in "a manner that strengthens domestic manufacturing while ensuring economic and national security" and that it does not allow companies to "cheat the system."

The West Virginia Democrat pointed to public comments submitted by some automakers and foreign governments last week asking for a broad interpretation of the commercial EV tax credit that would allow rental cars, leased vehicles and ride-hailing vehicles such as those used by Uber and Lyft to qualify for the full $7,500 commercial credit, known as 45W.

If allowed, Manchin argued, companies could then effectively bypass sourcing and assembly requirements in the tax…