Supercharger team sacked?

[FastLaneJB]

Seems some are saying that the SVP of Supercharging wouldn't reduce headcount enough so to show he's the boss, he fired the whole department. Possible they'll rehire some of them, wouldn't be the first time.

Another theory is he's cleaning house of people who might be able to supersede him as CEO so people don't try to get rid of him.

The valuation of the company is way too high for a car company. If he wants to grow the value in the stock market, it's got to continue to be seen as a tech company hence the focus on AI and not cars. The continuous goal to try to grow the stock price, get him more payouts will destroy what is effectively a very good car company simply because a very good car company cannot get to the lofty stock prices they all want, only a tech AI powerhouse can do that.

I feel like they need to start splitting the company a bit. Spin the car arm out as a solid earner and volume but with lower growth, the AI arm has no real revenue but can help drive the stock price. Let Elon run the AI side and try to grow that if needs be and let him step away from the car company before he destroys what by all measures is a really great and well run business.

Talk that some of the automakers that planned to switch to NACS now might not as they don't trust Tesla so could potentially go back to CCS. If they do that, then he's really just shot himself in the foot just to show people to obey him or else.

 

[thewishy]

Had a few SUC passed planning approval in my area - probably means they wont continue with them? Construction hasnt started at the sites.

I suspect they'll sit on projects which haven't started construction yet while the dust settles. What they've agreed will have economic value, so once the dust settles I'm imagine that they'll either resume work with a delay, or sell the plans and planning permission to another CPO. EG group are putting in tesla hardware

Let Elon run the AI side and try to grow that if needs be and let him step away from the car company before he destroys what by all measures is a really great and well run business.

Elon has a good track record with startups, less so with running large / real businesses. He's leaving a toxic feel for a consumer brand, so they need to work out some workable option...

 

[FastLaneJB]

Elon has a good track record with startups, less so with running large / real businesses. He's leaving a toxic feel for a consumer brand, so they need to work out some workable option...

He's just focused on growing the stock and his wealth. The car company works but it's not interesting anymore and the company is overvalued as a car company. I agree he needs to be removed from it.

 

[andyf1140]

I think Norway penalises ICE as much as it actively encourages EVs. Purchase tax is based on a mixture of weight, CO2 and NOx emissions, so I guess a government could encourage EV sales by making ICE more expensive and possibly using the extra tax to fund EV measures, but there would also be an outcry from those in rural communities, those on low income, those without the ability to charge at home etc etc .. whether rightly or wrongly.

And the new No Repair law being passed by the EU is a worry because it prevents people effectively running older cars that they can afford further pushing the poorer out of the car market. My M3 is on a company lease at the moment but as I come up to retirement rather that replacing the Z4 with another EV I think I'll be keeping it to use as the road trip car and purchase a smaller EV as the daily driver.

 

[12Pack]

Apparently not. A recent comparison /test of several Chinese solutions, including by people well versed in autonomy solutions with no bias, apparently showed that the Chinese versions were far more capable than Teslas offering.

Perhaps, but the Chinese themselves don’t think so. The only Western auto maker they see as any real completion is Tesla - for this reason alone. Based on my conversation with the COO of Nio. The Chinese markets actually see Tesla FSD as safer than human drivers (have you driven in China? I have). Their big focus is now autonomous driving, larger rear seats and higher (child killing) front fascia’s.

 

[12Pack]

I think I’ve said in the past but often got rubbished over it but the solution to this issue is longer range cars. I don’t mean of course by making them hugely heavier at current densities but from chemistry improvements. Yes that helps make cheaper city run arounds but cars at Model 3 class and higher don’t need to be hugely cheaper but could benefit from that range improvement.

Mercedes new G class EV coming out soon, in just 2 years they claim they’ll have an up to 40% more dense battery in it than what it’s going to come with as an option. Sure I think it’ll be more expensive initially because they can charge more and it’ll be low volume but the tech is coming for this. Also why EV’s will continue to depreciate so much until the rate of change slows.

Larger batteries don’t even tend to take longer to charge as they can stay on a higher charge speed for longer, people have to stop less often so less demand on the charging networks.

Maybe Tesla won’t do this because Elon’s famously said 300 miles is all you need but it’s pretty obvious the rest of the auto industry at least currently is looking to grow the range of EV’s and put bigger batteries in when the chemistry allows.

Yes. I’m basically already there, only doing destination charging, planning on 350 miles in a day. Fine for us semi-retirees, though haven’t yet planned a winter ski trip as such.

The big issue is in the US where punters see it as a personal challenge to travel 800 miles in a day on their road trips (I resembled that remark when I was growing up there).

 

[12Pack]

Elon has a good track record with startups, less so with running large / real businesses. He's leaving a toxic feel for a consumer brand, so they need to work out some workable option...

Yes, interesting opinion piece here, about him being more interested in innovations than operations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/opinion/elon-musk-tesla-problems.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

 

[Rob_H]

The vast majority of journeys are still less than 5 miles, so whilst extreme distance EVs ought to be a goal it isn't what is holding things back.

EVs would be viable if the Government were suitably motivated to make it happen. A quarter of all cars in Norway are EVs.

Kerb side charging, greasing the wheels/providing incentives for charging companies to accelerate rollouts, etc.

There's no money and no will, which leaves EVs as basically the preserve of businesses (until if/when BIK changes) and homeowners with drives.

I agree with the fact that the government and councils need to legislate or incentivise better EV facilities. Unfortunately with house prices in the UK and modern estates packing in houses on top of each other there are less and less houses with driveways. Maybe a rapid charger site on every new build estate would help things?

 

[mspohr]

Without a team to support the Tesla SC network its going to fall apart very quickly. I wouldn't own/run any EV if the Tesla SC network folds.

The writing is on the wall for EVs I fear. Battery replacement costs for 10 year old cars will soon start to hit the headlines, and it'll than be game over.

I'll eat humble pie, as I mocked Toyota years ago for sticking with hybrids, looking at our two cars on driveway now, I more than 50% sure now we'll end up with another Lexus hybrid rather than replacing our existing Lexus hybrid come 2030.

Infact once our house renovations are done I might to start proactively look at how to get our of the X and into a RX for the lowest cost.

In 10 years you'll have to replace both the battery and the engine in the hybrid.

 

[PassingLane]

I wasn’t aware that Tesla is a one man band and Elon did everything.

The employees of Tesla achieved that, Elon just piloted the ship. Do captains get the best pay? Yes of course but roughly at a guess the average pay of the more skilled folks in Tesla is say $200k a year.

Tesla Salaries | Levels.fyi

Tesla's salary ranges from $48,918 in total compensation per year for a Customer Service at the low-end to $542,640 for a Legal at the high-end.

www.levels.fyi

So the captain in this case is making 27.5 million percent more than some of the better paid, very smart Tesla workers. I don’t care if you’re Jesus himself, you ain’t worth that much money.

Elon is a micro manager. For better or worse. Lately, it's for worse.

 

[FastLaneJB]

Yes. I’m basically already there, only doing destination charging, planning on 350 miles in a day. Fine for us semi-retirees, though haven’t yet planned a winter ski trip as such.

The big issue is in the US where punters see it as a personal challenge to travel 800 miles in a day on their road trips (I resembled that remark when I was growing up there).

Well do they not often take it in turns to drive so they removes the tiredness and then it's just bathroom breaks and food I guess. Frankly maybe if the UK was close to the size of the US we'd be like that as you probably have to be to get somewhere in a semi reasonable time.

 

[12Pack]

Elon is a micro manager. For better or worse. Lately, it's for worse.

Yes but also, he is setting the product strategy unilaterally - and choosing robotaxis and Cybertrucks vs. what the market is looking for.

 

[FastLaneJB]

Elon is a micro manager. For better or worse. Lately, it's for worse.

Yes that much is known but doesn't mean he comes up with all the goods and deserves all the money. Apparently he'd mostly stepped away from Tesla for a year because of Twitter, seems Tesla continued to function without him micro managing it.

 

[yessuz]

All is so reasonable.... Only slower with new installs... Of course

 

[Obie]

Kyle Conner in the above Podcast sums it up correctly when he says "What the F man, holly *sugar*"

 

[FastLaneJB]

Autocar: What the hell is happening at Tesla?

Seems everyone is scratching their heads on this. I think this part sums it up though:

This was essentially Musk’s pitch to investors. “We should be thought of as an AI or robotics company. If you value Tesla as just like an auto company, fundamentally, it's just the wrong framework,” he said.

He's only interested in growing the stock price as of course a CEO should be but he's caused it to balloon way beyond what a car company would be valued at. The only way to keep that balloon or even grow it is to push further into tech and distance themselves more from just cars.

The whole Tesla mission is to transition mankind to sustainable transport is just bullshit. The goal of Tesla is to just make Elon richer and AI and robotics will do that better so now he's not all that interested in sustainable transport. I wouldn't be surprised if he can get a FSD that he can sell to other companies and make a fortune off that, they'll sell the car business and pull out of it completely.

 

[M3noob]

This is a very short term move just to protect Musk I think, not going to be great if the Supercharger network starts to become less reliable without proper maintenance.

He's committed to growing the sites already in place and improving reliability. It's a revenue move AND outsourcing the marketing and expansion to the major car companies marketing budget

 

[M3noob]

Autocar: What the hell is happening at Tesla?

Seems everyone is scratching their heads on this. I think this part sums it up though:

This was essentially Musk’s pitch to investors. “We should be thought of as an AI or robotics company. If you value Tesla as just like an auto company, fundamentally, it's just the wrong framework,” he said.

He's only interested in growing the stock price as of course a CEO should be but he's caused it to balloon way beyond what a car company would be valued at. The only way to keep that balloon or even grow it is to push further into tech and distance themselves more from just cars.

The whole Tesla mission is to transition mankind to sustainable transport is just bullshit. The goal of Tesla is to just make Elon richer and AI and robotics will do that better so now he's not all that interested in sustainable transport. I wouldn't be surprised if he can get a FSD that he can sell to other companies and make a fortune off that, they'll sell the car business and pull out of it completely.

Nope

 

[Roy Batty]

He's committed to growing the sites already in place and improving reliability. It's a revenue move AND outsourcing the marketing and expansion to the major car companies marketing budget

It was a fit of pique, he lost his temper and wiped out the entire team.

Had he stuck to 'some' of the team then perhaps it would have been reasonable move.

He has now damaged the brand given an awful lot of people will no longer trust the company.

 

[browellm]

Watching the mental gymnastics of his acolytes as they describe this as some 5D chess move is cracking entertainment.