Supercharger team sacked?

[12Pack]

Are you sure? Thats not what the Reuters leak said.

Yes they are all gone - From my Tesla field service engineer (we sell chips to them).

 

[CyberShy]

Zero is a speed.

 

[yessuz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1785461086688256361

yeah, sure. We all believe.

Maybe those which already have tombstones delivered and diggers digging the ground... but completely new ones?
I see Tamworth SC kissing bye bye and not gonna happen (by the state of it for the last half a year - that is status quo)

Let's remember all completely not-false statements by muskovite:
FSD is soon to come (by end of the year), model 2, roadster, semi, cybertruck with 500 mile range for 40k, charging eobo snake, robotaxi and 30k a year of profits, on and on and on

 

[12Pack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1785461086688256361

I call BS if you know what the SuC team did. This can’t be done without them. In addition to @yessuz post above, not sure this can be contracted out without opening up firmware access.

 

[phil4]

Yes they are all gone - From my Tesla field service engineer (we sell chips to them).

He works for HR?

 

[yessuz]

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/musk-disbands-tesla-ev-charging-team-leaving-customers-dark-2024-04-30/

" Musk's decision to dismiss the head of the business, Rebecca Tinucci, and most or all of the staff that operated and maintained the system"

most or all... which is it? There's a big difference. They don't know, hence the hype and sensationalism which is clearly working.

yeah, sure

Now, more layoffs have been finalized through an email from CEO Elon Musk to executives, first reported by The Information, stating that 6-year veteran Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla’s Senior Director of EV charging, would be leaving the company on Tuesday, along with nearly all of her 500-person charging team (“a few” employees will be reassigned to other teams, according to The Information).

So yeah - fire almost all, remaining few re-assign to other roles. :/

 

[yessuz]

He works for HR?

info/rumours in orgs spread faster than wild fire in savannah during the draught

 

[phil4]

yeah, sure


So yeah - fire almost all, remaining few re-assign to other roles. :/

I get you, 500 people is a hell of a lot. We run and entire company with 10.

And despite the heartless way it's done, that's how the US does things with employment. If there's a UK team they can't do that.

Anyway, as ever, don't believe it's all over for SUC, but do think it'll "change", just no idea how.

 

[yessuz]

I get you, 500 people is a hell of a lot. We run and entire company with 10.

And despite the heartless way it's done, that's how the US does things with employment. If there's a UK team they can't do that.

Anyway, as ever, don't believe it's all over for SUC, but do think it'll "change", just no idea how.

well, duuuh - of course it will change. how can you something at at least reasonable level without the team which was doing that thing in the past?

but I would not hold my breath on additional SC expansion

 

[12Pack]

He works for HR?

Why does he have to see what’s happening on the site?

 

[12Pack]

I get you, 500 people is a hell of a lot. We run and entire company with 10.

And despite the heartless way it's done, that's how the US does things with employment. If there's a UK team they can't do that.

Anyway, as ever, don't believe it's all over for SUC, but do think it'll "change", just no idea how.

Legally yes, but is rarely done without explanation and a personal touch even in the US. Legally possible in the UK too with good preparation for any prospective tribunal. I don’t think you can take your small company knowledge and expand it to MNC’s.

 

[yessuz]

from electrek comments sections (if you can at least treat it as having at least some accuracy:

Tinucci resisted laying off her staff based on her accurate belief that the Supercharger team is a core competency for Tesla and secures its future.
She challenged him and told him she would resign if he pushed forward with laying off more of her workforce. He had a tantrum and made an example of her while simultaneously destroying the livelihoods of 500+ people. He made it very clear to remaining executives that if they balked he would do the same to them.
<...>
My wife was also on that team and I can tell you they are NOT ready to support that. They are also about to be in breach of multiple contracts. This was a temper tantrum because Rebecca pushed back on how much he wanted to reduce headcount and he decided to go nuclear and make an example of her. While also destroying the livelihood of over 500 people. His ego knows no bounds and it is disgusting. My wife has always loved her job because of Rebecca and the people in the charging org in general but the people were the only reason she has stayed for as many years as she has.
<...>
If it wasn't already the case Musk will now be surrounded by yes men scared to challenge his decisions publicly or privately.

 

[Durzel]

what did Reuters said?

because for me, when whole team is sacked - more or less all new things stops. Here's what was chipped in in another thread and some my thoughts:

This team identified sites where SC's were needed, worked with local governments or councils, landowners, and power companies (if needed) to make it all happen. Permits, public meetings, planning permissions, etc.. They negotiated power rates as economic situations changed. Then once up and running, they made sure the superchargers were maintained and all were happy. They modeled demand curves to understand what needs to be upgraded/improved. They worked with other manufacturers in US to make NACS adoption by others.

In the end this team was much more about politics and infrastructure than engineering.

This is not something you can outsource to 500 people in China, nor something that you can just put a random Ai engineer from FSD in-between his work on fart sounds in charge of and train them in a week or month. It was this literal lived experience that made this team valuable, and likely even the people they knew.

And the best way to achieve all of this is to lay off every single person on the supercharging team with a midnight email, including a smart director, instead of using at least some of them to change to this new path? Like, at least keep the ones that know how to make the superchargers you are planning on manufacturing and licensing? Or the ones that can manage the NACS standard and interoperability in US? Or a few to make the "flagship" locations? Or even just tell them in person like a person with any shred of empathy?

No, fire them ALL via email on a Monday night with no warning and start over.

That's what makes this look illogical and questionable and and impulsive not well thought out, and that's doubled down by Elon's useless follow up tweet and the fact that he's pissed that people found out this is happening.

If this were planned out, he could just say it during the investors call 2 days (!!!!!) ago "We changed the world with SCs, which met our mission, now we leave it up to others to build the next super reliable and good 100,000 DC fast chargers. We appreciate the amazing people that made the best charging network in the world happen." But he can't say that because that would mean someone at Tesla besides Elon got credit for something.

phuckin man-baby likely had another brain-fart after yet another ketamine injection.

i am actually surprised that TSLA did not fell even harder yesterday.

Great post, agree with everything there. You don't just delete a whole department and suggest that it's a "refocus". It doesn't stand up to the most basic scutiny.

Elon clearly from his own machinations and proclamations absolutely values human life, but does not value individual human lives at all.

Cleaving an entire team of 500 people with a midnight email is reprehensible.

 

[thewishy]

from electrek comments sections (if you can at least treat it as having at least some accuracy:

So... My earlier comments about needing an adult in charge...

FWIW, UK employees will have certain entitlements, but the odds are they woke up to a non-working laptop the same as the US. In the UK, in principle there is now a paid consultation period and the opportunity to apply for different roles before redundancy. Doing the whole thing in bad faith might result in some employment tribunals not going Tesla's way, but Musk didn't care about this when he decimated twitter, and he doesn't care when he does the same to tesla.

 

[phil4]

I don’t think you can take your small company knowledge and expand it to MNC’s.

You're spot on the bureaucracy and waste caused by it is simply staggering.

 

[12Pack]

You're spot on the bureaucracy and waste caused by it is simply staggering.

Would love to see your small company accomplish what Tesla has done so far though - in spite Musk.

 

[andyf1140]

What a shame, if it continues this way I won't be ordering another Tesla when mine is up for renewal in a years time, it's be back to an ICE car.

 

[init6]

well, duuuh - of course it will change. how can you something at at least reasonable level without the team which was doing that thing in the past?

You've clearly never been in a company that has had layoffs. The work will be given to another team to manage. Happens all the time in IT.

 

[phil4]

Would love to see your small company accomplish what Tesla has done so far though - in spite Musk.

You're taking my point too far.

What I'm saying is that a team of 500 to run superchargers is a hell of a lot of people. Likely at that size there's too much bureaucracy and wastage, and that it could be done by far far fewer people.

 

[EVMeister]

What a shame, if it continues this way I won't be ordering another Tesla when mine is up for renewal in a years time, it's be back to an ICE car.

Why? Seems a bit of an overreaction. I shudder to think of driving an ICE vehicle after driving EVs for 10 years now.