Tesla’s director of battery engineering, Jon Wagner has left the company, according to his LinkedIn profile. The move comes at a time Tesla is struggling with battery production issues that are slowing Model 3 production.
This is the second battery expert that has left the company this year. Longtime battery technology director Kurt Kelty left the effort in August.
Wagner has been with Tesla since 2013, working on battery projects for both cars and the company’s Powerwall system. According to Wagner’s LinkedIn page, he is launching a battery and powertrain startup in California. Reuters first reported his departure from Tesla.
Tesla’s production target for the Model 3 was pushed back last week by three months. The company blamed the bottleneck on an issue with the battery module assembly line at its Nevada Gigafactory.