According to remarks made to Reuters by four former staff members of the charging network, Tesla’s electric vehicle charging division had high aspirations the day before Elon Musk effectively sacked the whole division. Rebecca Tinucci, the division’s chief of charging, had gone to meet with Musk to discuss the network’s future.
They thought Musk would confirm plans for a big charging network expansion after Tinucci had laid off between 15% and 20% of employees two weeks prior as part of far larger layoffs.
It was impossible for the conference to go worse. The workers reported that Musk wants further layoffs and was not happy with Tinucci’s presentation. He responded by dismissing her and her whole 500-person staff when she objected, claiming that further cuts would jeopardize the foundations of the charging business.
The exits have upended a network that is commonly seen as a hallmark achievement of Tesla and a major factor in the company’s EV sales. According to federal statistics, Tesla Superchargers make up over 60% of high-speed charging ports in the US. The company has also benefited greatly from $5 billion in public financing allocated for new chargers.
This narrative, which is the most thorough to date on the Supercharger firings and the aftermath, is based on correspondence between Tesla and outside suppliers, eight former charging division employees, and one contractor. The four persons that are aware of the meeting are merely repeating what Supercharger department bosses told them about it; only Musk and Tinucci were present at the meeting that was reported to Reuters.
Remarks from Reuters were not returned by Tesla, Musk, or Tinucci.
Musk has since tweeted on social media, promising to keep growing the network in spite of the mass firings. However, three former members of the charging team told Reuters that they have been receiving calls from suppliers, contractors, and electricity utilities, some of which have invested millions of dollars in infrastructure and equipment to assist.
According to a copy seen by Reuters, a Tesla global supply manager wrote to Supercharger contractors and suppliers early this month, requesting that they “please hold on breaking ground on any newly awarded construction projects” and cease purchasing supplies. “I recognize that patience is difficult when waiting to be compensated, and that this time of transition may be difficult.”
According to three of the former Tesla employees, the energy team at Tesla, which offers solar and battery storage products for homes and businesses, was given the responsibility of assuming control of Superchargers and contacting some partners to wrap up existing charger-construction projects.
A building contractor claimed that Tesla employees had contacted his business since they “didn’t know a thing” about the layoffs. Though the contractor now intends to diversify to avoid depending too much on Tesla, he had anticipated that Supercharger projects will account for around 20% of his revenue in 2024.
Tinucci was among the few female executives at Tesla with a high position. Four former Supercharger team employees claim that she just began reporting directly to Musk, following the resignation of battery and energy chief Drew Baglino. They said that Baglino had always managed the charging division with little input from Musk.
The firings of the charging team represent the most recent upheaval in a turbulent year for Tesla, during which Elon Musk has halted or postponed a number of key initiatives intended to fuel the sharp increase in EV sales that investors had anticipated. Musk now claims that Tesla would instead concentrate on developing self-driving cars, a more dangerous and intensely competitive industry that may take years to mature.
Due to strong competition from Chinese manufacturers of electric vehicles and declining global demand for EVs, the business reported its first fall in auto sales since 2020 in the first quarter. In April, Reuters revealed that Tesla has abandoned its ambitions to produce the much-anticipated, low-cost Model 2. This has cast doubt on Tesla’s intentions to build additional factories in Mexico and India, where Musk was anticipated to be present. to travel last month to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before canceling at the last minute. And a host of executives have departed amid deep companywide layoffs.
reduced growth of charging
According to two former Tesla employees, there are some design and construction tasks that are identical in the energy team that was given the task of managing the charging network. However, they added that charging projects are essentially different because they are situated in public areas and necessitate protracted talks with utilities, local authorities, and landowners.
Two of the former staff members of the charging network stated that the energy team was already finding it difficult to keep up with its existing workload. However, Musk stated in a post on April 30 that the business “still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace” in response to the layoffs. “Tesla will spend well over $500M expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year,” stated Musk in a post on Friday.
