As part of a 10% reduction in its workforce, Tesla laid off almost the entire team at its Supercharger network of fast charging stations for electric vehicles: almost 500 people. The dismissal also affected the project’s senior director, Rebecca Tinucci.
Subscribe to RB.RU on Telegram
This is reported by Bloomberg citing well-informed sources. It should be noted that Tesla has 6,249 Supercharger charging stations and more than 57 thousand connectors in the United States, which are also used by owners of electric vehicles of other brands.
The staff cuts at Supercharger have “caused confusion and concern” for other manufacturers, including Rivian Automotive, Ford Motor and General Motors, the source said.
Tesla has more fast-charging stations in the U.S. than all other providers combined, according to BloombergNEF.
Previously, Tesla signed charging deals with automakers Stellantis, Volvo, Polestar, Kia, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. It is unknown who will oversee the partnership agreements with these companies in the absence of the Supercharger team.
“Everyone is in complete shock,” a source told Axios.
In his X account, Elon Musk did not deny reports about the reduction of the Supercharger team, but said that the company is not abandoning its plans to develop its network of charging stations.
“Tesla still plans to expand the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations, with a greater focus on uptime and expanding existing ones,” the company’s CEO wrote.
In April, Elon Musk notified Tesla staff that he would lay off more than 10% of his employees worldwide (about 14,000 people) due to declining sales. The company’s shares then reacted to the news with a sharp drop.
However, amid news at the end of the month about the launch of an autonomous driving system in the Chinese market, the American automaker’s shares showed their best growth in more than three years: on Monday, April 29 alone, Tesla shares soared almost 18%.
Photo: Unsplash
Author:
Akhmed Sadulayev
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
