Tesla Lays Off Entire Supercharger Team in Midnight Purge
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has made significant cuts to the company’s workforce, including the entire Supercharger and Policy teams, as well as the lead for new products. This move comes just three weeks after Musk announced plans to lay off more than 10% of Tesla’s global workforce.
The layoffs have impacted key figures such as Rebecca Tinucci, Senior Director of Tesla’s Supercharger business, and her 500+ member team. Tinucci had been instrumental in the expansion and success of the Supercharger network, including the adoption of Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) across the industry.
These layoffs have raised concerns about the future of Tesla’s Supercharger network, which has been expanding at a record pace and was expected to welcome nearly every major automaker through NACS deals.
“What this means for the charging network, NACS, and all the exciting work we were doing across the industry, I don’t yet know,” William Navarro Jameson, a former senior manager at the charging operation, said on X.
Apart from that, as the New York Times notes, Tesla has been a “major beneficiary of federal funds to build charging networks.”
From February 2023: Joe Biden Convinces Tesla To Open Charging Network to All EVs In Bid to Meet Goal of 500K Chargers by 2030
“As other carmakers like Hyundai and Ford have chipped away at Tesla’s market share, Mr. Musk may have concluded that it was not in Tesla’s interest to build many more charging stations, which would help its rivals sell cars,” Jack Ewing of the Times wrote.
To this, Musk said that the company “still plans to grow the Supercharger network” just that it would slow down the construction of new charging stations and focus on maintaining 100% uptime and expanding existing locations.
Ford (NYSE: F) spokesperson Martin Günsberg also told the Times that the carmaker’s plans have not changed.
Overnight Layoffs
The time the ‘Dear Employee’ emails were sent to impacted employees exhibit the erratic behavior Musk has become increasingly known for, much to the frustration of Tesla shareholders.
One former employee wrote in a now-edited LinkedIn post that his 8-year Tesla journey ended at 3:45 a.m., as quoted by Drive Tesla. Another wrote about learning about the layoffs in the middle of the night. His post, which was quoted by the Times to have said “If you would have told me a month ago that Tesla was a company that would notify people, some with 10-plus years of experience, who helped build the company to what it is today with nothing more than a ‘Dear Employee’ email in middle of the night,” has also been edited to remove this part.
The layoffs come as shortly after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its “devastating” report on investigation into the Autopilot.
Last week, Musk announced a new low-priced model when the company’s first-quarter results came out. The move was seen as a way to distract investors from the 55% profit drop and the Cybertruck recalls.
Information for this story was found via the New York Times, Drive Tesla, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
