Elon Musk sacks entire Supercharger team in a bid to be ‘hardcore’ about cost reduction

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has eliminated the company’s entire Supercharger team, including senior director Rebecca Tinucci. The move, confirmed by leaked internal emails, has raised concerns within the company and the EV industry.

Tinucci, the company’s most senior female executive, and an estimated 500 Supercharger employees were dismissed. This action follows similar patterns to Musk’s layoffs at Twitter and recent company-wide job cuts at Tesla.

Confirmed – @Tesla @elonmusk has let our entire charging org go. What this means for the charging network, NACS, and all the exciting work we were doing across the industry, I don’t yet know. What a wild ride it has been.

— willjameson (@willjameson) April 30, 2024

The decision is surprising given the Supercharger network’s importance to Tesla’s success and its role in reducing range anxiety for EV customers. Analysts and industry experts have expressed concerns about the move, especially with other automakers now adopting Tesla’s charging standard.

This development comes just weeks after Tinucci presented Tesla’s Supercharger strategy at Investor Day.

Musk has also fired another senior executive, Daniel Ho, head of new products, in a continued round of job cuts attributed to poor sales, reports The Information. Ho and affected employees were notified via email.

CEO Elon Musk’s email emphasised cost reduction, stating, “We need to be absolutely hardcore about headcount and cost reduction.” Additionally, Tesla’s public policy team, previously led by Rohan Patel, has been dissolved. Patel left the company shortly before Musk cancelled a planned trip to India, where Tesla’s market entry was anticipated.

Also read: Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system gears up for China, intensifying global autonomous vehicle race

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow