In Short
- Tesla laid off its charging team despite partnerships with Ford & GM.
- Unclear if Tesla will open its Supercharger network to other carmakers.
- This follows recent layoffs of 10% of Tesla’s workforce.
Elon Musk has dismantled Tesla’s charging division in a new round of layoffs, in an unexpected and “surprising to everyone” action.
Despite having signed up prominent manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors to utilize its connections, Tesla’s Supercharger network is experiencing layoffs.
Tesla’s Supercharger network uses connection technology known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), which is being adopted by major manufacturers.
In an email to top executives, Tesla’s CEO instructed them to lay off additional employees who “don’t pass the excellent, necessary, and trustworthy test” or leave.
Will Jameson, one of the impacted charging staffers, said on X that he had let “our entire charging organization go.”
“I’m not sure what this implies for the charging network, NACS, and all the wonderful work we’ve been doing throughout the sector. “What a wild ride it has been,” he wrote on X.
According to Musk’s email, Tesla “will continue to build out some new Supercharger locations, where critical, and finish those currently under construction,” as reported by TechCrunch.
These new job losses come after Tesla fired off almost 10% of its global staff as part of a reorganization strategy.
The tech entrepreneur has also disbanded Tesla’s public policy staff.