Supercharger team sacked?

[tomorrowman]

Tesla is done.

Musk will never step down, his ego is too big. An organisation runs on the good will of its employees, he might have vision but I fear his lost touch with reality, there is a reason why doing drugs isn't advised.

Leadership matters, anyone from Teslas Autopilot, drivetrain, software teams can walk into a job at Ford, BMW, Toyota, Google etc etc. Look at what's happening in RedBull, it wouldn't take much to loss your most important talent.

Tesla now is almost unrecognisable as the company whom I was happy to spend ££££££ with back in 2015.

Wow this thread is getting heated. The Tesla supplier letter published by Electrek makes for an interesting read once you get past all the Electrek opinion blah blah.

Basically Tesla ie Elon, not happy with team, removed team, building new team.

• Is it brutal - Yes
• Do I feel for the majority of poor sods impacted by this - Yes
• Has this been poorly managed - Yes
• Has this damaged Tesla and potentially slowed down EV transition (especially in US) - Yes
• Are Oil industry execs having a major celebration of the back of this - If not they should be
• Will this impact Tesla's ability to recruit - Grads No, experienced staff with commitments - Probably (but US employment culture is not 'Job for Life's and Tesla looks good on your CV)
• Is Tesla done - No
• Will anybody even remember this in 12 months - If new team in place then No (bar the poor buggers who lost their jobs as part of this).

If no new team in place then then that's an all together more interesting topic, with the US being the biggest looser due to no decent charging alternatives.

Interesting times

 

[spdpsba]

Is Tesla done - No

The whole @gangzoom post was hyperbole. I am wondering the rate at which I am unwatching posts, in a short period I am going to end up with 5-6 posts. This is a very useful forum for many Tesla technical queries and some banter. But it is becoming more and more of Elon bashing and end of Tesla doomsday posts.

 

[CyberShy]

The thread is getting heated, but as long as it doesn’t get insulting we’ll be ok.

It’s ok to disagree. It’s ok to have a differing opinion. Opinions cannot be wrong. It’s ok to be in the minority. Don’t take disagreement as anger or vitriol.

Don’t insult people for liking or hating Musk. He’s an effing BILLIONAIRE. He doesn’t need our love, but it’s obvious he craves it. He’s impulsive, but headstrong. He makes mistakes, but seldom admits it as many tend to do.

I think firing the whole SC team was a mistake if the reason was to spite a manager who refused to do his bidding. He IS the boss, after all, and if there wasn’t some sort of convincing argument against following orders, then she should have expected this outcome.

Never disagree with the boss without a good reason.

 

[spdpsba]

think firing the whole SC team was a mistake if the reason was to spite a manager who refused to do his bidding.

No one knows the real reason other than that article and then gossip all around - even Kyle dropped a gossip on his YT channel as he knows that this thing about Elon sells. More clicks for him courtesy Elon again.

 

[init6]

The thread is getting heated, but as long as it doesn’t get insulting we’ll be ok.

Echo chamber Karen wants to see the manager.

That didn't last long

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

To me the debate around Tesla is even more polarising than normal. There’s more ammunition that Musk/Tesla appear to be imploding which if you’re that way inclined to believe you’ll double down on the narrative. If you’re pro Tesla and want to believe in the goodness, you need to argue a little harder for your corner. I’ve see on Reddit the pro Tesla communities are banning anyone that’s contributed to a community with a different perspective, that’s censorship and whilst they may feel like they need to. it’s fuelling the argument against them, almost a case of “if you can’t say something nice, we’ll ban you”. . The net of all that is it’s a mess.

 

[FastLaneJB]

To me the debate around Tesla is even more polarising than normal. There’s more ammunition that Musk/Tesla appear to be imploding which if you’re that way inclined to believe you’ll double down on the narrative. If you’re pro Tesla and want to believe in the goodness, you need to argue a little harder for your corner. I’ve see on Reddit the pro Tesla communities are banning anyone that’s contributed to a community with a different perspective, that’s censorship and whilst they may feel like they need to. it’s fuelling the argument against them, almost a case of “if you can’t say something nice, we’ll ban you”. . The net of all that is it’s a mess.

 

[gangzoom]

The whole @gangzoom post was hyperbole.

Really, I've said this before, but action speaks louder than words.

This is the photo I took back in 2016 at the first SC ever built, along with one of the first grid storage deployments of the mega packs (its now gone).

Our finances currently are constrained as we have heavily invested in building works, but our X will be gone before September next year which is when the battery/motor warranty ends, you have my word on that.

Good luck with Tesla, but one thing I've learnt in life is nothing in life is forever, everthing changes all the time. Adapt or die, but there are some principles in life worth worth sticking too. I've loved owning a Tesla, but I'm now done with been associated with Tesla.

It'll be hard to find an adequate replacement for the X, a X5 is probably top of the list right now, I honestly couldn't careless what happens to Tesla now, but I'm taking my hard earned £££££ else where. Its been a mad decade of EV adventures, but time to go back to the real world.

 

[spdpsba]

Really, I've said this before, but action speaks louder than words.

Don’t understand what you are trying to prove other than again saying, look I am so special, Tesla needs to look after me. Otherwise I am taking my money somewhere else.

Of course, it is your money you can spend as you wish. But at the end of the day, it is a car. I have never bothered about Ratan’s retirement (do you even know who he is?) when I bought my RR. And the same applies to other cars. In fact 3/4 of forum members don’t know who the BMWs current CEO is. I don’t know whether you know the name of current BMW chief. They don’t blame him if their idrive is rubbish or for that rubbish face lifts and extra money for the new models. And every 18 months your car becomes the previous version because 5series had a facelift and the next 4 series will have one in the near future. No one complained. You only knew your dealer or some random faceless guy who runs a local garage. And he is your CEO if something goes wrong. The maximum you will do is talk to his manager.

And imagine now blaming everything about Tesla on Elon. Just because he is the face of that company and more visible and just richer than you and me. I don’t think I’ve seen people blaming Steve Jobs or for that matter Balmer for some of Apple’s or Windows terrible failures in the past.

 

[KennethS]

I get that Elon is a polarising person, but my hate or otherwise for him doesn't cloud my enjoyment of our Tesla vehicles. The SC network was a differentiating factor during the infancy of EV adoption but once they began opening the network to other brands it was clear the general direction was to share the burden of providing fast charging with others. The predictions of the beginning of the end for Tesla are greatly exaggerated IMHO.

 

[FastLaneJB]

I get that Elon is a polarising person, but my hate or otherwise for him doesn't cloud my enjoyment of our Tesla vehicles. The SC network was a differentiating factor during the infancy of EV adoption but once they began opening the network to other brands it was clear the general direction was to share the burden of providing fast charging with others. The predictions of the beginning of the end for Tesla are greatly exaggerated IMHO.

Assuming a valid business model for EV chargers exists then there's no reason to slow down, keep increasing speed and make money off that charging. To give up on a profitable or future profitable part of your business makes no sense.

If on the other hand there isn't a valid business model EV charging then it's going to struggle in a free market without government subsidies to keep the charging networks running. It's going to end up like train networks, costing the tax payer a lot of money to keep it running.

 

[mspohr]

Assuming a valid business model for EV chargers exists then there's no reason to slow down, keep increasing speed and make money off that charging. To give up on a profitable or future profitable part of your business makes no sense.

If on the other hand there isn't a valid business model EV charging then it's going to struggle in a free market without government subsidies to keep the charging networks running. It's going to end up like train networks, costing the tax payer a lot of money to keep it running.

I think there are already generous subsidies for building chargers. Tesla can (is) take advantage of these. After they are built, the cost to keep them running is small and prices can be adjusted to maintain profit.
Unfortunately, since Elon sacked the entire SC team (including maintenance), we don't know what will happen. Not really 5D chess... more like tic tac toe with blind players.

 

[FastLaneJB]

I think there are already generous subsidies for building chargers. Tesla can (is) take advantage of these. After they are built, the cost to keep them running is small and prices can be adjusted to maintain profit.
Unfortunately, since Elon sacked the entire SC team (including maintenance), we don't know what will happen. Not really 5D chess... more like tic tac toe with blind players.

Yes so you need government funding to get the chargers in the first place otherwise it doesn't make commercial sense. Not sure that covers everything but lets say it does.

Average Supercharger cost per kWh in the UK is say 67p/kWh
Cost per kWh to supply the site is maybe around 26p/kWh x 20% VAT so let's say 31p/kWh
Ignoring any other costs of running the network (Obviously there is) then they make 36p/kWh
Average speed of charging is maybe 100KW so in an hour it can make £36
Let's say it's in use for 8 hours a day, other hours it's empty so that's £288 a day from a single Supercharger or £105,120 a year
Say we have an 8 stall site then £840,960 a year

Average speed of 50KW and that halves that number, in use for 4 hours a day on all tombstones over 8, halved again. Maybe doesn't start to stack up by that point. The costs to run the network are unknown but you imagine the bigger the scale, the cheaper that'll become.

 

[gt2690b]

maybe someone should buy the SC network.. .you shouldnt have to rely on a car manufacturer to refuel your car...

 

[mspohr]

maybe someone should buy the SC network.. .you shouldnt have to rely on a car manufacturer to refuel your car...

Elon may have that in mind. It's a low growth, low margin dull business. Not like AI.

 

[Js1977]

you shouldnt have to rely on a car manufacturer to refuel your car...

Or provide insurance, or power your house, or provide internet...

It's a low growth, low margin dull business

Not so much when you are also selling chargers and services to other large companies. It would be a bit crazy to sell your show piece on a market that still needs to grow largely out of necessity imho

 

[thax1]

UK installs record number of public electric vehicle chargers

About 6,000 have been installed this year, a quarter of them rapid chargers that can power up a car in under an hour

www.theguardian.com

Article from yesterday. 6,000 new chargers added in UK in first quarter of 2024 taking total to 60,000. The highest rate so far, and a quarter of those are rapids. Led by installs in the North East, followed by South West.

 

[MadManMark]

This is nuts (if true):

Read the wild email Tesla is sending to suppliers amid Supercharger chaos

After firing its Supercharger team, Tesla is unsurprisingly finding it hard to manage contractors who previously worked with the team.

electrek.co

 

[init6]

Average Supercharger cost per kWh in the UK is say 67p/kWh

Where are you getting that figure from? It's between 33p and 38p in the ones I use. Are they really still that expensive 'down South'?

 

[Andywil]

UK installs record number of public electric vehicle chargers

About 6,000 have been installed this year, a quarter of them rapid chargers that can power up a car in under an hour

www.theguardian.com

Article from yesterday. 6,000 new chargers added in UK in first quarter of 2024 taking total to 60,000. The highest rate so far, and a quarter of those are rapids. Led by installs in the North East, followed by South West.

I would love to know where all these chargers are that have supposedly been installed in the North East. I live in North Yorkshire and there is little evidence of charging facilities throughout North Yorkshire.