Tesla layoffs hit Supercharger team just as it’s poised to take over EV charging

2 weeks ago

Tesla was connected nan cusp of taking complete electrical conveyance charging successful nan US — then, nan layoffs came.

Today, aggregate outlets reported that nan institution has laid disconnected hundreds of employees, conscionable weeks aft cutting 10 percent (approximately 14,000 people) of its world workforce. Tesla’s Supercharger section was said to beryllium peculiarly difficult hit, pinch respective soon-to-be-former labor saying that adjacent to nan full squad had been cut.

According to The Information, Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla’s elder head of EV charging, is leaving nan company, alongside astir of nan 500-person squad she oversaw. Tinucci oversaw nan effort to triumph adjacent cosmopolitan support from different automakers for Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), an tremendous feat that earned her a spot connected nan “TIME100 Climate” database and MotorTrend’s “Power List,” as noted by Electrek.

Tesla’s Supercharger section was said to beryllium peculiarly difficult hit

Things started rolling successful November 2022, when Tesla announced that it was opening up its EV charging plug and web to different automakers. The thought was to springiness nan remainder of nan manufacture entree to Tesla’s much reliable Supercharger stations astatine a clip erstwhile EV charging is simply a dicey and precarious proposition — while besides enabling nan institution to entree billions of dollars successful national backing for early charging infrastructure.

Ford came first, then GM, and then everyone else. Most recently, 2 world automakers, Volkswagen Group and Stellantis, were nan latest — and past — to opportunity they would adopt Tesla’s charging modular for their early EVs.

Tesla’s determination to laic disconnected astir its full Supercharger squad astatine its infinitesimal of triumph could awesome a displacement successful strategy. For example, Electrek besides reported that nan institution was pulling retired of 4 leases for caller charging stations successful nan New York City area. But those who were affected by today’s cuts said they were blindsided by nan news.

“Wow, this is real. I can’t corroborate 100% that nan full #TeslaCharging org has been laid off, but my squad and I surely person been,” William Navarro Jameson, strategical charging programs lead, wrote connected his LinkedIn profile. “As I effort to portion together thing much I will stock what I can.”

Jameson later wrote connected X that “@elonmusk has fto our full charging org go,” adding that nan layoffs coming “a unsocial opportunity for nan manufacture to capitalize connected nan recently disposable talent and expertise successful nan space.”

“If Tesla is yielding nan charging crown,” he added, “who will measurement up?”

George Bahadue, elder head of tract acquisition and business improvement for Tesla’s commercialized charging program, also said connected LinkedIn that he had been laid off. “To nan Supercharger team, this is not nan end, it is nan commencement of a caller chapter,” he wrote.

“If Tesla is yielding nan charging crown, who will measurement up?”

Tesla’s Supercharger web is wide recognized arsenic superior to galore of nan third-party EV charging stations, astir of which characteristic CCS plugs and nan less-utilized CHAdeMO charging standard. The institution says it has 45,000 Superchargers worldwide, 12,000 of which are located successful nan US.

In its astir caller net report, Tesla said it installed 6,249 Supercharger stations, which see 57,579 connectors, during nan first 3 months of 2024. Station installations were up 26 percent twelvemonth complete year, while nan number of connectors was up 27 percent. It was a uncommon area of maturation for nan company, which has seen its sales and profits fall since past twelvemonth arsenic request for EVs cools down.

EV charging remains a sore constituent for nan full industry, pinch galore surveys citing user worry astir nan authorities of charging successful nan US. With better, much reliable charging, galore person theorized that EV take would amended significantly.

During that net call, Elon Musk paid short shrift to Tesla’s automotive business, preferring to aggressively tout nan company’s newfound position arsenic an AI task and beforehand its efforts to nutrient a afloat autonomous robotaxi. The early is bright, he insisted, because Tesla is going to “solve autonomy.”

The number of times EV charging aliases Tesla’s Superchargers came up during nan one-hour call? Zero.