In Elon Musk’s ongoing push to rein in expenses at Tesla, the CEO has swung his cost-cutting axe once again – this time taking a heavy toll on the company’s charging infrastructure deployment.
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According to an leaked email from Musk to executives, first reported by The Information, Tesla Senior Director of EV Charging Rebecca Tinucci is being let go after six years with the company, she’s hardly the only casualty.
Musk’s directive apparently eliminates Tesla’s entire 500-person Supercharger deployment team, with the exception of a handful reassigned to other divisions. It’s a stunning decimation of the personnel responsible for expanding the company’s proprietary charging network across the globe.
So what does this mean for the future of Supercharger rollouts? Well, Musk states in the X post that Tesla will continue building chargers already under construction and fill geographical “gaps” in the network. But Elon also signaled a significantly “slower pace” for opening new locations going forward.
Musk new X post that the focus is now on achieving “100% uptime” and expanding capacity at existing Supercharger sites rather than rapidly scaling up the raw footprint.
It’s a potential strategy shift that could have major implications as Tesla navigates building out charging for its steadily growing vehicle fleet amidst economic turbulence. Ramping up the base too slowly risks leaving drivers stranded without accessible charging.
Of course, the Supercharger overhaul is just the latest in an accelerating series of staff cuts and restructurings as Musk tightens Tesla’s belt. It follows quickly on the heels of an earlier round letting go over 10% of employees across the company.
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