Elon Musk apologizes for Tesla workers paid just $5 an hour by subcontractor

A report alleging the electric car company exploited workers from eastern Europe to build a high-tech paint shop has prompted Musk to launch an investigation

Tesla relied on cheap foreign labor to build a hi-tech paint shop in California, paying workers as little as $5 an hour, according to a damning report that prompted CEO Elon Musk to launch an investigation.

The electric car company used roughly 140 workers from eastern Europe, primarily Slovenia and Croatia, to build a paint shop in Fremont in northern California as part of its production of the Model 3 sedan.