Over 115 years the auto industry in the east German town of Zwickau has lived through wrenching upheavals including World War II and the collapse of communism. Now the city's 90,000 people are plunging headlong into another era of change: top employer Volkswagen's total shift into electric cars at the local plant. Among the key concerns is that electric cars don't need engines and transmissions with thousands of metal parts that need to be assembled. Where an internal combustion engine has 2,000 to 3,000 metal parts, an electric drivetrain has 150 to 250 parts. Factory veteran Rainer Pilz, 59, is among those retraining the next generation of Volkswagen workers.

Source: ABC News May 22, 2019 09:05 UTC