Tesla Lays Off Entire Supercharger Team [Update: Musk says supercharger growth will continue] ** WARNING: NO POLITICS***

[LincolnLuvr]

It appears some important people will eventually be rehired as it was what happened before, but would I want to go back if I was in this situation? Likely not.

From Electrek:
Sources familiar with the matter believe that some of the layoffs have nothing to do with hiring inefficiencies or restructuring, but rather with Musk throwing his weight around Tesla.

Two sources told Electrek that Tinucci was fighting back pressure from Musk to fire a bigger percentage of her team, and the CEO decided to let go of the entire team as an example.

Musk wrote in an email to executives on Sunday:

“Hopefully, these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hard-core about headcount and cost reduction. While some on exec staff are taking this seriously, most are not yet doing so.”

The message is clear: fire people as many people as I’m asking, or you and your entire team will be gone.

https://electrek.co/2024/05/01/elon-musk-throwing-weight-tesla-wrecking-ball/

What a horrible individual.

Meanwhile, he's trying to preserve his $45 billion pay compensation package.

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[jpblincoln]

https://www.fastcompany.com/91116917/elon-musk-tesla-charging-network-layoffs

 

[dtbaker61]

This is a good point.

Another is the capital cost needed to build out DCFC stations. It is already high, making it difficult to get a return on investment. Adding battery storage adds cost, increasing the ROI time. Is it worth it to the station builder to add batteries if it adds a year to the ROI time?

@dtbaker61 mentioned in a post months ago that he was looking into building battery supplimented DCFC dispensers in areas where it is hard to get large power lines. Maybe he has some insight into the economics?

DCFC with internal batteries cost more in capital outlay..... BUT

if there isn't 480-v 3-phase power close by, a regular DCFC above 50kw isn't possible.

and, if the local utility has 'demand charges' based on max power requested... the first charge you sell incurs that cost, even if you one sell one charge a month. if you have 4 handles, each capable of 150kw, and ONE TIME during the month all are in use you get billed thousands of dollars. Many utilities do not have special EV charger rates yet, so demand charges can kill a project.

variable rates with Time Of Use are also an issue... more utilities are cranking up time of use rates such that 3p-10p is triple the cost of other times... and that is prime time for when travellers might need DCFC, which shoots the margin for the owner of the charger. It's way better to buffer up several hundred kWhr when cost is low, and sell it when its high; pays for the batteries very quickly.

 

[jpblincoln]

Attila the Hun was known for his ruthless tactics and his willingness to use fear to maintain control over his army. He was known to execute soldiers who disobeyed him or showed weakness, which sent a message to the rest of the army that they needed to follow his orders or face severe consequences.

 

[RickMachE]

What a horrible individual.

Meanwhile, he's trying to preserve his $45 billion pay compensation package.

False! $55B...

 

[Eric_C_Boston]

What a horrible individual.

Meanwhile, he's trying to preserve his $45 billion pay compensation package.

I was not aware until I looked into it that a shareholder was successful in voiding the 56 billion pay compensation package via the courts. The result is Tesla reincorporating in Texas and Elon putting the compensation package to shareholder vote. If Tesla needs to cut back, then cancelling a ludicrous overspend on CEO compensation would go a long way to save money. It seems like Elon has "captured" the Tesla Board of Directors and I would not be comfortable investing in a company that gave the part-time CEO carte blanche. He is damaging the company. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/17/elo...-holders-to-reinstate-voided-stock-grant.html

 

[Mach-Lee]

Email to charging partners - "You may be aware that there has been a recent adjustment within the Supercharging organization, which is presently undergoing a sudden and thorough restructuring..."

Orders are to hold on all new charger projects. And they can't pay their contractors currently.

 

[AKgrampy]

This is a good point.

Another is the capital cost needed to build out DCFC stations. It is already high, making it difficult to get a return on investment. Adding battery storage adds cost, increasing the ROI time. Is it worth it to the station builder to add batteries if it adds a year to the ROI time?

@dtbaker61 mentioned in a post months ago that he was looking into building battery supplimented DCFC dispensers in areas where it is hard to get large power lines. Maybe he has some insight into the economics?

I need to follow-up but we are supposed to be getting at least two locations that are NEVI approved that are battery systems. The last time I spoke with the engineer they were good to go for construction this year. One bank of four are to be sited here in Fairbanks and I believe the other site was in Denali National Park. There may be other sites south of the Alaska range but I only know what may be happening with our local utility.

 

[LincolnLuvr]

I was not aware until I looked into it that a shareholder was successful in voiding the 56 billion pay compensation package via the courts. The result is Tesla reincorporating in Texas and Elon putting the compensation package to shareholder vote. If Tesla needs to cut back, then cancelling a ludicrous overspend on CEO compensation would go a long way to save money. It seems like Elon has "captured" the Tesla Board of Directors and I would not be comfortable investing in a company that gave the part-time CEO carte blanche. He is damaging the company. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/17/elo...-holders-to-reinstate-voided-stock-grant.html

Elon used to be admired and charismatic. What happened to him?

 

[AKgrampy]

Battery backed up DCFCs are the way to go. So that they can be charged and ready when a customer comes along and the customer charge quickly. Also, good ones can also provide backup power to the facility (eg strip mall) in the case of a power outage. On the supply side, they can take commercial 3 phase power.

Some reservation system would be handy for some uses, but if the supply is eg 25kw and someone wants to charge 20% to 80% worst case would be a very long lunch charge.

The challenge of course remains volume. If several users hit the charger then it can not charge at the high rate and can no longer provide any back-up power. If sized large enough for both then costs begin to become prohibitive.

 

[Snakebitten]

I've worked in private aviation for decades. (IT though)
And since the average jet is probably $20 million(?), our customers are probably the 1% of the 1%.

The animosity for folks that have considerable wealth is common. And the scrutiny that's pent up for the moment they do anything out of the ordinary is palatable.

I ddon't know many of them personally, but the ones I do are mostly the folks making the biggest/hardest decisions every day.

I wouldn't want to walk in their shoes. Not much I want bad enough. But I'm glad they do.

 

[Snakebitten]

Elon used to be admired and charismatic. What happened to him?

???
Aww come on. You gotta know.

He's in Texas now, afterall.
That'll draw some ire all by itself.

 

[mkhuffman]

Elon used to be admired and charismatic. What happened to him?

He believes in free speech. I know, horrible.

 

[LincolnLuvr]

He believes in free speech. I know, horrible.

What does his mass firing of employees have to do with free speech?

 

[dpnelson]

Whatever else he is, Musk is at his core a startup CEO. He makes decisions and moves decisively. He freely slays sacred cows. Those things are often necessary at a scrappy upstart that has a razor thin path to success. The startups that make all of the right choices survive, and the ones that don't, don't. See: Fisker Automotive (the one that went in 2013, not the one that's going bankrupt later this year), Aptera Motors (same story - liquidated in 2011, then reformed) Nikola Motors (technically not dead yet, but...... yeah), and if we're honest, probably eventually every US EV startup besides Tesla and Rivian.

Tesla is no longer such a startup. You can't act like that when you have a scaled enterprise with complex systems in-place. At that point, the sacred cows you're slaying are your own.

I have no doubt the supercharger group needed change. The V4 supercharger rollout has been a disaster. Cybertruck, despite being several years delayed, launched months ago. There isn't a single supercharger capable of charging it at its native voltage. The few "V4" superchargers that are installed are just the new dispensers with V3 cabinets. Tesla has to be embaressed that their shiny new trophy charges faster at Electrify America, but that doesn't mean you burn it all down. Poorly performing teams that have performed well in the past (superchargers are still BY FAR the best charging network) usually just need new leadership and a targeted trimming of dead weight.

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