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Elon Musk shuts down the unit that runs Tesla’s Supercharger business, fires two senior executives and lays off hundreds more staff as the electric car maker continues its restructuring amid a plunging EV market. did.
Musk announced internally on Monday that Supercharger group head Rebecca Tinucci and head of new products Daniel Ho would be leaving the company, along with the entire team. About 500 people were in the Supercharger group, according to the memo.
Tesla’s Supercharger system is one of the largest charging networks in the world, and it was one of the reasons the company held a commanding lead over rival automakers for so long. While Supercharger operations will continue, the move casts doubt on the future of the charging business.
The entire public policy department will also be disbanded following the resignation of leader Rohan Patel in mid-April.
“We hope these actions make it clear that we need to get serious about headcount and cost reductions,” Musk wrote in the memo, which was first reported by The Information. It is. “Some executives are taking this seriously, but most are still not.”
He added that any manager who “employs three or more people who have clearly failed the necessary and reliable tests of excellence” should resign.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
The company’s latest layoffs come after Musk announced last month that the automaker would cut “more than 10 percent” of its workforce, or more than 14,000 jobs, to keep it “lean, innovative, and hungry.” It was done after.
The urgency of the turnaround was underscored by Tesla’s reporting that its revenue for the first quarter of this year fell by almost 10 percent, the first quarterly year-over-year decline since the start of 2020. The highest price in November 2021 was just under $410 per share.
The staff were also surprised by this decision. Will Jameson, who worked on Tesla’s Supercharger team, I wrote to X Musk “gave away our entire charging organization,” he said. Another employee in the department, George Bahadew, posted a post on LinkedIn confirming that he had been fired.
He further added: “What does this mean for charging networks? [North American Charging Standard] We still don’t know about NACS, and all the exciting work we were doing across the industry. What a wild journey! ”
When asked by an X reader why the entire department was fired, Jameson replied, “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Musk said in the memo that Supercharger facilities under construction will be completed and “some” new facilities will be built.
This surprising move comes despite Tesla building a strong EV charging network of 50,000 locations around the world and 15,000 locations in North America. The company recently signed deals with several rival companies, including Ford, General Motors and Rivian, to use the NACS charging standard.
Models from other automakers will also be able to use Tesla’s branded charging stations, potentially creating a major revenue stream for Tesla and establishing it as the de facto industry standard.
Tinucci, Ho and Patel are not the only Musk aides to retire this year. Drew Baglino, Tesla’s senior vice president who led engineering and technology development for batteries, motors and energy products, resigned in April, and Martin Biecha, the company’s director of investor relations, announced last week during the company’s first-quarter earnings call. He said he would resign.
In a post on X, Musk said the automaker will continue to expand its Supercharger network “at a slower pace with new locations.”
“We will be more focused on 100% occupancy and expansion of existing locations,” he wrote.
