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Elon Musk has shuttered the division that runs Tesla’s Supercharger business, laid off two senior executives and laid off hundreds more employees as the electric car maker continues its restructuring amid a sharp downturn in the electric car market.
Musk announced internally on Monday that Supercharger group head Rebecca Tinucci and new product head Daniel Ho would be leaving with their entire teams. About 500 people were in the supercharger group, the memo said.
Tesla’s Supercharger system is one of the largest charging networks in the world and was one of the reasons the company had such a big lead over rival automakers for so long. While Supercharger operations continue, the move raises questions about the future of the charging business.
Following the departure of its head, Rohan Patel, in mid-April, the entire public order department will also be disbanded.
“Hopefully these actions make it clear that we must be absolutely tough on staffing levels and cost reductions,” Musk wrote in the memo, which was first reported by The Information. “While some leaders are taking this seriously, most are not yet.”
Any manager “who employs more than three people who clearly do not pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test” should resign, he added.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
The company’s latest layoffs come after Musk announced last month that the automaker would cut “more than 10 percent” of its total workforce, or more than 14,000 jobs, to be “lean, innovative and hungry.”
The urgency of change was underscored by Tesla reporting a nearly 10 percent drop in revenue in the first quarter of this year, its first quarterly year-over-year decline since the start of 2020. The stock price has more than halved from its November 2021 peak of just under $410 per share.
The decision surprised employees. Will Jameson, who worked on the Tesla Supercharger team, wrote on X that Musk “laid off our entire charging organization.” Another employee in that department, George Bahadue, confirmed on LinkedIn that he had been fired.
He added: “What this means for the charging network [North American Charging Standard] I don’t know about NACS and all the exciting work we’ve done across the industry. What a wild ride it’s been.”
When Jameson was asked by a reader on X why the entire department had been laid off, he replied: “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Musk said in the memo that Supercharger sites currently under construction would be completed and “some” new sites would be built.
The surprise move comes even though Tesla has built the leading electric vehicle charging network with 50,000 locations worldwide and 15,000 in North America. Recently, the company signed deals with several major competitors, including Ford, General Motors and Rivian, to use its NACS charging standard.
Models from other automakers will be able to use branded charging stations, potentially giving Tesla a significant revenue stream and making it the de facto industry standard.
Tinucci, Ho and Patel aren’t the only longtime Musk lieutenants leaving this year. Drew Baglino, Tesla’s senior vice president and head of engineering and technology development for batteries, motors and energy products, resigned in April, and Martin Viecha, head of investor relations, said last week he would appear on the company’s first-quarter earnings call resign from the company.