Elon Musk Lays Off Tesla's Supercharger Team
Elon Musk has reportedly laid off Tesla's entire Supercharger division — which is responsible for building electric vehicle (EV) charging stations — sparking concerns among EV makers....
Facts
- Elon Musk has reportedly laid off Tesla's entire Supercharger division — which is responsible for building electric vehicle (EV) charging stations — sparking concerns among EV makers.1
- The 500-member team was fired earlier this week, as Tesla reportedly backed out of four Supercharger location leases in the New York City area.2
- Nearly every EV maker in the US has agreed to join Tesla's Supercharger network, which has over 2.2K fast-charging stations with more than 25.4K plugs.3
- This comes after Musk announced a $10B commitment to 'combined training and inference AI,' indicating his desire to make robotaxis a reality.4
- Following the layoff, Ford said its plans to sign up with Tesla haven't changed, though General Motors said it would 'monitor' the decision's potential impact.3
- Two weeks ago, Tesla fired 14K employees worldwide, reportedly to cut costs amid disappointing profits and falling stock price.5
Sources: 1CNN, 2Yahoo Finance, 3Associated Press, 4Bloomberg and 5New York Times.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Verge. With zero notice to his employees and EV partners, Elon Musk's rash decision will disrupt the entire industry. Musk's erratic behavior undermines and negates any progress his companies make, as has happened here with the complete derailment of the proliferation of Tesla charging stations just as they were set to become the de facto standard. In pursuit of short-term cost cutting, Musk has hurt Tesla and the future of an industry he purports to love.
- Narrative B, as provided by TESLARATI. The reactions to Tesla's layoffs of the Supercharger team are vastly overblown, and the company is still looking to grow its network. Like any business, Tesla can only commit to profitable departments. EV makers are still committed to joining Tesla's network, and the only result of Musk's decision is that charging stations will be built at a slower pace. Tesla has a lot of ongoing projects, and these layoffs will enable other developments to thrive.
