Entire Tesla Supercharger team fired (Update: Elon Musk says supercharger network growth will continue). ** ⚠️ ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS **

[Whale Blubber]

A post from an impacted employee in CAN:

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[Dark-Fx]

A post from an impacted employee in CAN:

Ah yeah but that guy is a communist.

 

[BigSkies]

I wonder how many car makers are going to mysteriously delay putting NACS chargers in their production vehicles until the dust settles.

The entire rationale for NACS agreements was a reliable network that was well run and well maintained.

I doubt anyone will be making announcements given the almost-zero real information available. But everyone (myself included) will be looking for any sign of degradation in quality/reliability/availability/maintenance of the supercharger network. It won't take more than a couple anecdotal station failures for the internet to grab a hold and completely trash the Supercharger networks reputation.

If the Supercharger network's reputation tanks before NACS cars go into production, we could be seeing some changed plans. Particularly if EA's reputation continues to improve at the same time.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

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

The letter sent to suppliers:

To all concerned:

You may be aware that there has been a recent adjustment with the Supercharger organization which is presently undergoing a sudden and thorough restructuring. If you have already received this email, please disregard it as we are attempting to connect with our suppliers and contractors. As part of this process, we are in the midst of establishing new leadership roles, prioritizing projects, and streamlining our payment procedures. Due to the transitional nature of this phase, we are asking for your patience with our response time.

I understand that this period of change may be challenging and that patience is not easy when expecting to be paid, however, I want to express my sincere appreciation for your understanding and support as we navigate through this transition. At this time, please hold on breaking ground on any newly awarded construction projects and planned pre-construction walks. If currently working on an active Supercharging construction site, please continue. Contact [email redacted] for further questions, comments, and concerns. Additionally, hold on working on any new material orders. Contact [email redacted] for further questions, comments, and concerns. If waiting on delayed payment, please contact [email redacted] for a status update. Thank you for your cooperation and patience.

So, basically, no planning. No discussion or thought process. Just the whim of a madman and what is left in his wake. The emperor and this new clothes...

 

[SANZC02]

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

The letter sent to suppliers:


So, basically, no planning. No discussion or thought process. Just the whim of a madman and what is left in his wake. The emperor and this new clothes...

Surely you jest, there are so many posts here with people “in the know” saying EM would never make such a drastic move without a superior master plan in place… /s

 

[VSG]

Surely you jest, there are so many posts here with people “in the know” saying EM would never make such a drastic move without a superior master plan in place… /s

It was a genius move! /s

This email reminds me of when Musk took over Twitter, fired most of the staff, then refused to pay rent on all the properties they had contracts with. Lots of lawsuits are still open over that.

If I were the recipient of the above email, I would seriously worry about getting paid.

 

[RandomMcRandomFace]

Surely you jest, there are so many posts here with people “in the know” saying EM would never make such a drastic move without a superior master plan in place… /s

It’s part of the master plan. A dude with a long driveway said so.

 

[scottf200]

But everyone (myself included) will be looking for any sign of degradation in quality/reliability/availability/maintenance of the supercharger network. It won't take more than a couple anecdotal station failures for the internet to grab a hold and completely trash the Supercharger networks reputation.

Make sure to follow supercharge.info / (at)superchargeinfo on X/Twitter.

 

[RivianRunner]

I'm not sure I understand your post. Tesla didn't dominate the NACS charging standard - they created it. Its their standard.

My thread was a warning that adopting a Tesla standard was putting too much power in the hands of a madman and...surprise. EM eliminates the entire charging team at a time when all other OEMs relented into switching to NACS.

Tesla may have created the NACS standard, but they have clearly donated it to the public. No one is going to be beholden to Musk or Tesla, nor could they be, because Tesla made the NACS standard public domain. If you don't like Superchargers, don't use them! If you like NACS, but not Tesla, build your own NACS fast chargers, you owe zero royalty. Musk wants others to step up to the plate and do their part for the EV fast charging infrastructure. When he slows spending, who will step up to the plate and invest in fast charging infrastructure? Ford? GM? Stellantis? So far, it's all talk and no action.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

It was a genius move! /s

This email reminds me of when Musk took over Twitter, fired most of the staff, then refused to pay rent on all the properties they had contracts with. Lots of lawsuits are still open over that.

If I were the recipient of the above email, I would seriously worry about getting paid.

They say geniuses are all a bit mad. Maybe there is truth to it. /s

 

[emoore]

They say geniuses are all a bit mad. Maybe there is truth to it. /s

Ha! A bit mad…….not totally bat shit crazy!

 

[fastwheels]

Upheaval seems to be EM's MO these days, regardless of the cost to his employees or customers, or with X - himself. For those of us on the outside there really is no clear view of what the SC network will look like in 3,6,12 months. Only uncertainty. The OEMs that are walking the tightrope between jumping deeper into EV production just got another reason to hold back. Prospective EV purchasers as well.

I'm planning a 2000-mile trip in July pulling a car trailer and have been running several route options through ABRP for a couple of months. With the recent SC turmoil, I am no longer confidant that I will get the NACS adapter by July (26xx R1T VIN), and who knows how the SC network will be running by then?

So, it makes it easy for me to pick the arguably less scenic route, but the one that has 7 out of 8 charging stops at a RAN. Thanks Elmo - you just made my route choice easier!

 

[virgnia_rivian]

Speaking of more Tesla news, a local tv station I’m St Louis discovered the Tesla service center in Chesterfield had to rent a mall parking lot to park hundreds of vehicles, including dozens of cyber trucks. These are all new vehicle.

https://insideevs.com/news/718406/tesla-vehicles-lot-demand-texas/

 

[RoadRunner]

https://cleantechnica.com/2024/05/02/tesla-saturn-the-conundrum-of-the-cult/

"Here’s the point of today’s screed — What happened to Saturn could happen to Tesla, and Musk seems completely oblivious to that possibility. Recently he said Tesla is not a car company. What? All these years it has been laser-focused on the car business and its shareholders have been wowed by visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads as they envisioned a company that would grow 50% a year — because that’s what Musk promised — and become the largest car company on Earth, cranking out 20 million new electric cars a year at factories all around the globe.

Now suddenly that dream is off the table and we are all supposed to pivot to Tesla being an AI and robotaxi company? C’mon, Elon. How stupid do you think we are? It seems more and more that Musk is just a huckster not unlike PT Barnum, whose mantra was, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” The evidence is mounting that Musk is just another in a long line of tech entrepreneurs whose goal is to get rich quick by moving fast and breaking things. Others of that ilk are Travis Kalanick of Uber fame and Trevor Milton, who once rolled a fuel cell-powered Nikola Class 8 truck down an incline to fool people into thinking it was operational. To some, Tesla today is little more than a classic Wall Street pump and dump scheme.

Put A Real Person In Charge Of Tesla

A recent op-ed by Mack Hogan for Inside EVs advocates for putting an adult in charge of the car manufacturing side of Tesla. If Elon wants to pursue AI and robots, fine. Let him do it on his own time and with his own money. “The only person who consistently gets in Musk’s way is Musk himself,” Hogan writes.

“The man’s quick, gut-driven pivots don’t seem to work out well when the business is mature. He’s prodded every dial and button at X — née Twitter — and the result is clear: The website that once defined the online conversation is now a cesspool of spam and bigotry. It’s never had a worse relationship with its advertisers. And its CEO has never been so radioactive.

“And yet America can’t afford for the same fate to befall Tesla’s auto-making efforts. The company is just too important. Very few other automakers right now offer such a compelling slate of EVs backed by Silicon Valley-grade software, a dealer-free buyer experience and an internally built, reliable charging network. Tesla is not just important to the EV market; it is important to the US’ strategic geopolitical position. It is the only large scale EV manufacturer in the country that has global relevance, the chops to compete with Chinese EV manufacturers and an existing, satisfied EV customer base.

“It doesn’t need a disruptor in charge. It needs an executive. One who executes. Someone who can helm a complicated, large organization while retaining the institutional knowledge and talent to keep its edge over the competition. It doesn’t need to solve autonomy to succeed. It does not need one big swing. It needs a million little decisions, made by a CEO that isn’t distracted by SpaceX, X, Dojo, autonomy, and anger over “the woke mind virus.”

Hogan suggests the company under the guidance or a seasoned professional leader (Herbert Diess?) could make cars that people want to buy by redesigning the Model S, switching the Model 3 over to an 800 volt architecture, and building out the V4 Supercharger network. “These projects all surely sound boring to Elon Musk. That’s exactly why he shouldn’t be in charge of them.” Hogan says.

 

[itselectric]

This is why we need Rivian (or someone else) to step up. High quality competition is never a bad thing.

The EV industry in the US should not be relying solely on Tesla for reliable charging.

I'm not sure what will happen with RAN, but there's a substantial opportunity here.

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