Entire Supercharging Team Fired?

News yesterday is that the entire 500+ person word-wide SC team has been let go. That is alarming. Why would Elon sack the execs and all the employees of this important part of Tesla's business? Could Tesla be selling the SC network off to a third party? Opinions? Other theories?

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

New Z'lnd is a 3 hour plane ride from Australia and has its own Parliamentary Democracy going on. Average temperature about 20 degrees less. Better hair. Not founded by convicts. Proper mountains with snow on in. No snakes. No crocodiles. Not too many Australians. We only get the mild mannered ones who can handle a bit of cold. Get the picture?

 

[gearchruncher]

New Z'lnd

You can't fool me. New Zealand does not exist. I've seen the maps.

 

[gearchruncher]

My take is since NACS is adopted, Elon probably counting on others to expand it further...

Only 38% of Supercharger sites and 47% of stalls are in North America. The supercharger team was responsible for charging around the world.

supercharge.info

Zoomable Tesla supercharger map with adjustable range indicator.

supercharge.info

 

[brainhouston]

Only 38% of Supercharger sites and 47% of stalls are in North America. The supercharger team was responsible for charging around the world.

supercharge.info

Zoomable Tesla supercharger map with adjustable range indicator.

supercharge.info

That's a good point, i wasn't sure if the team covered US or the world...

 

[FatFalcon]

My take is since NACS is adopted, Elon probably counting on others to expand it further...
Kinda like gas stations are their own companies.. u don't see any ICE car companies owning gas stations...
Eventually all chargers might be owned by 3rd parties...

Because that worked out so well for CCS?

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

You can't fool me. New Zealand does not exist. I've seen the maps.

Stops us from being overrun by American tourists.

 

[gearchruncher]

That's a good point, i wasn't sure if the team covered US or the world...

It absolutely does, just a few posts up is an article about people in AUS being told to stop working on a supercharger.

An interesting point as well is that about 1/3 of all superchargers are in China. So in one of the few cases where an American business actually has a stronghold in China, we're giving up on it.

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

The next supercharger in town was slated to be ChargeNet anyway. It's 300kW and the only way I see that as newsworthy is if that's 300kW per stall. Otherwise it would likely be 75kW for 4 stalls. But they could be taking advertising lessons from big E.

 

[stopcrazypp]

It absolutely does, just a few posts up is an article about people in AUS being told to stop working on a supercharger.

An interesting point as well is that about 1/3 of all superchargers are in China. So in one of the few cases where an American business actually has a stronghold in China, we're giving up on it.

Tesla actually is relatively weak in China, it only makes up 11000/963,000 DC stalls or about 1.1% of the DC market whereas in the US it makes up a whopping 62% of the DC fast charging market with 24000 stalls.

According to data from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance (EVCIPA), as of the end of August 2023, there were a total of 7,208,000 charging infrastructure units (public and private) nationwide, of which 2,272,000 were public charging stands (963,000 DC charging stands and 1,307,000 AC).

Tesla only has 11000 stalls in China:
Tesla opens more chargers to other brands of EVs in China

US EV Market Passed the 1 Million Sales Mark in 2023

 

[ucmndd]

How many MuskHuffers are still willing to defend the company’s actions as calculated and rational after today and the leaked supplier email?

This is the result of an egomaniacal billionaire amped up on ketamine receiving pushback from a woman and showing the world who’s boss to preserve his ever more fragile ego.

For bonus points, she may have also refused his offer to breed her.

 

[gearchruncher]

Tesla actually is relatively weak in China, it only makes up 11000/963,000 DC stalls or about 1.1% of the DC market whereas in the US it makes up a whopping 62% of the DC fast charging market with 24000 stalls.

If China has such a strong public DCFC situation, why did Tesla even bother to build out anything there? Seems like wasted effort.

 

[stopcrazypp]

If China has such a strong public DCFC situation, why did Tesla even bother to build out anything there? Seems like wasted effort.

I think they realized it later on and they slowed down the installs in China drastically (the article I linked from late last year even noted Tesla just repeated previously mentioned figures, indicating little to no growth).

 

[stopcrazypp]

All of this was clearly well planned as part of a strategy by Tesla after a hard decision by Elon. Because you send this kind of thing out days afterwards when it's all well planned:

Read the wild email Tesla is sending to suppliers amid Supercharger chaos

After firing its Supercharger team, Tesla is unsurprisingly finding it hard to manage contractors who previously worked with the team.

electrek.co

The Electrek article mentions the same theory I said was most plausible (that this was a power struggle with Tinucci and making an example of her):
"We have heard from several sources who told us that the reason for these firings is because Rebecca Tinucci, former head of Tesla’s EV Charging division, resisted Musk’s demand to fire large portions of her team."

 

[brianman]

The Electrek article mentions the same theory I said was most plausible (that this was a power struggle with Tinucci and making an example of her):
"We have heard from several sources who told us that the reason for these firings is because Rebecca Tinucci, former head of Tesla’s EV Charging division, resisted Musk’s demand to fire large portions of her team."

subtext?

Kidding. It's funny because it's sadly plausible.

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

If China has such a strong public DCFC situation, why did Tesla even bother to build out anything there? Seems like wasted effort.

Selling Tesla branded cheap coal fired power at a premium from chargers made in Chinese factories to Chinese Tesla owners of course.

 

[TomServo]

So nobody else can build and maintain DCFC stations?

 

[theothertom]

So nobody else can build and maintain DCFC stations?

I think that's a point people are missing. GM is building out the Ultium network and Mercedes is building their network. As NEVI funds start rolling through the system (it's been a long process), more and more non Tesla chargers will be coming online. And yes, Teslas can use these with a CCS adapter. Kinda ironic, right?

 

[gglockner]

I think that's a point people are missing. GM is building out the Ultium network and Mercedes is building their network. As NEVI funds start rolling through the system (it's been a long process), more and more non Tesla chargers will be coming online. And yes, Teslas can use these with a CCS adapter. Kinda ironic, right?

Sorry to repeat myself, but this is throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Suppose Tesla had a massive but not total layoff and said:

“Thanks to NEVI, fewer Tesla Superchargers will be needed in North America. We thank the Supercharger team led by Rebecca Tinucci who helped Tesla reach this milestone. Going forward, Tesla drivers may see fewer Tesla Superchargers by percentage but more fast charging stations across North America. And with a software update later this year, your Tesla will be able to navigate and charge seamlessly with any compatible charger.”

Then we’d all be praising Musk for his wise decision. Instead, we’re worried for the future of our expensive cars and questioning our decision to buy into the Tesla ecosystem.

 

[Midpack]

Armchair quarterbacks. While Elon certainly appears to act out publicly, none of us know the details or the inside story. It's easy to tell yourselves you know better, when you really couldn't. We will see how this plays out. Elon's achievements are many, whether his apparent faults hurt his businesses in the long run remains to be seen.

I will say the Superchargers I have used have all been underutilized. While I know there are waiting lines at a few, I've never been to one where even half the slots were in use, and sometimes only a couple. Many of them should be at higher utilization - business 101.

 

[KJD]

So nobody else can build and maintain DCFC stations?

Sure anybody can build a DCFC station.

The only problem is based on past history, the hardware is crap and the software is crap.

If you have found any non Tesla DCFC that work better than a Tesla Supercharger, please let me know.