Tesla fires whole Supercharger team [Update: Musk says supercharger growth will continue]

[Grumpy2]

I disagree. Anyone who says that Musk's RECENT ACTION is any different than his PAST ACTIONS, is kidding themselves.

He purchased Twitter for twice it's value, then ran off the income stream from advertisers. Now X earns perhaps enough to pay the interest on his loans. The SC network seems very similar.

He is far from safe from his own behavior. His action makes no sense.

I am not trusting him with my retirement funds. No Tesla stock for me.

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[Newton]

It is not smart at all, as Kyle pointed out on his podcast the other manufacturers have had 10 years to build out something like Tesla and look where we are with CCS. A semi smart play would be to sell the supercharger network while it is still somewhat of a monopoly. Monopolies are what get investors excited, the obvious answer to a pitch for the Robo Taxi is "well, how is it better than WayMo or Cruise?" Because Tesla is a more reliable company?

Really, the stupidity of this move is almost unparalleled. The supercharger network is the definition of a protected rent seeking monopoly - it has high barriers to entry, and once it is in place it just sits there and makes money for you. You expand it not to make more money, but to close out your competitors. On the other hand, whatever software advantage Tesla thinks that they have in AI is on the hard drive of one of those fired engineers. (Their computing hardware is nothing compared to Google, the only asset the have is the driving data.)

The real reason for this brilliant move is that Rebecca Tinucci was a threat to him. She is obviously a skilled executive, is a better presenter, and would be a perfectly acceptable replacement for Musk as CEO. That is why he fired her - and importantly her entire team - to make sure there are no credible alternatives to him as CEO while he tries to blackmail the company.

 

[detansinn]

Are there royalty payments other manufacturers won’t have to pay if they don’t adopt NACS? Is the only reason other manufacturers wanted to adopt NACS was so they would have access to an existing (now abandoned) charging network?

NACS/SAE J3400 is an open standard. There are no royalty payments to Tesla. The agreements that the automakers made were to access the Supercharger network. Stellantis opted not to cut an agreement with Tesla and instead just adopted the J3400 standard.

The big question is whether or not automakers will actually switch to J3400 for new models (as was the commitment) if the primary reason for making the change, ie Supercharger network access, is effectively gone. I wouldn't be surprised if every automaker that's part of the Ionna (https://ionna.com/) charging network alliance bailed on NACS. SPOILER ALERT: The Germans and Koreans will be the first to bail.

 

[detansinn]

He purchased Twitter for twice it's value, then ran off the income stream from advertisers. Now X earns perhaps enough to pay the interest on his loans. The SC network seems very similar.

He is far from safe from his own behavior. His action makes no sense.

I am not trusting him with my retirement funds. No Tesla stock for me.

Elon is only good at businesses funded by our tax dollars. Tesla was propped up by our tax dollars for years -- Tesla buyers were the only effective beneficiary of the $7500 tax credits. Space X wouldn't exist without our tax dollars -- enjoy the show, you're paying for it. Heck, even the Boring company projects are all taxpayer funded boondoggles.

Twitter was the first real clue that he had no idea what he was doing when the taxpayers weren't flipping the bill.

 

[invertedspear]

Tesla buyers were the only effective beneficiary of the $7500 tax credits.

Primary beneficiaries anyway. Tesla's success with the rebate is what legacy automakers needed to see before they put investments into BEVs. The Lightning and MME likely only exist because of the long term success of Tesla. Hell, I doubt Rivian would exist if Tesla hadn't already paved that road. We are indirect beneficiaries of those tax credits, else we'd all be driving powerboost F150s, waiting for things like the Ram Charger to get us here incrementally.

 

[mattskr]

Article here about the ripple effects of his careless decision, mentions our adapters:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/3/2...er-layoffs-stalled-ev-infrastructure-projects

"Tesla’s cuts are also affecting the availability of CCS-to-NACS adapters that are supposed to be sent to owners of Ford, Rivian, and GM electric vehicles this year (and eventually to every major automaker), allowing them to use the company’s Superchargers. Some Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners took to Reddit sharing emails sent from Ford that their complimentary fast-charging adapter is delayed “due to supply constraints.” Some have moved from May to June, others as late as September."

 

[RickLightning]

I love this stuff. NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING, yet there are Youtube videos speculating about unknowns, and articles saying that adapters are delayed due to the layoff when the layoff hadn't happened yet.

I'll say it again - CLICKBAIT!

 

[luebri]

I love this stuff. NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING, yet there are Youtube videos speculating about unknowns, and articles saying that adapters are delayed due to the layoff when the layoff hadn't happened yet.

I'll say it again - CLICKBAIT!

Well, in reality the whole damn internet is nothing but clickbait. This website has banner ads on it doesnt it?

It happens. People try and collect information (sometimes flimsy) and then speculate. Happens all over the place in many various topics, industries, etc...

 

[The Weatherman]

Well, in reality the whole damn internet is nothing but clickbait. This website has banner ads on it doesnt it?

It happens. People try and collect information (sometimes flimsy) and then speculate. Happens all over the place in many various topics, industries, etc...

Totally human nature.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

I love this stuff. NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING, yet there are Youtube videos speculating about unknowns, and articles saying that adapters are delayed due to the layoff when the layoff hadn't happened yet.

I'll say it again - CLICKBAIT!

So I'll ask you again: should everyone just ignore this matter? Until when?

 

[Zprime29]

I always get a chuckle when people complain about all the tax payer money Tesla gets. Like we forgot about GM getting bailed out from bankruptcy. Or all the money big oil gets.

 

[climateguy]

Electrek article: "Read the wild email Tesla is sending to suppliers amid Supercharger chaos"

He's not paying suppliers: "I understand that this period of change may be challenging and that patience is not easy when expecting to be paid..."

He's ordering a halt to everything that was ready to start: " At this time, please hold on breaking ground on any newly awarded construction projects"

Maybe even halt everything?: "Additionally, hold on working on any new material orders"

He doesn't have enough people left who would even know who his outside contracters and suppliers are?: "we are attempting to connect with our suppliers and contractors"

Anyone might think the Tesla company was on the brink of bankruptcy. But at the same time, the Tesla board is asking shareholders to approve a multibillion dollar pay package for Elon

"After mass layoffs, Tesla asks again to approve Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package"

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Electrek article: "Read the wild email Tesla is sending to suppliers amid Supercharger chaos"

He's not paying suppliers: "I understand that this period of change may be challenging and that patience is not easy when expecting to be paid..."

He's ordering a halt to everything that was ready to start: " At this time, please hold on breaking ground on any newly awarded construction projects"

Maybe even halt everything?: "Additionally, hold on working on any new material orders"

He doesn't have enough people left who would even know who his outside contracters and suppliers are?: "we are attempting to connect with our suppliers and contractors"

Anyone might think the Tesla company was on the brink of bankruptcy. But at the same time, the Tesla board is asking shareholders to approve a multibillion dollar pay package for Elon

"After mass layoffs, Tesla asks again to approve Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package"

Seeing that email, if I ran Ford I’d probably delay any NACS plans and continue with the adapter strategy for now until I knew where they were going with this.

Could you imagine paying the money to retool to NACS only to find out that the 99.95% uptime is now 80% because new staff have to figure out how to maintain it. Or if there’s no expansion/upgrade so we’re limited to the existing 6,000? SCs - I would assume a NACS to CCS adapter would still work on EA/EVGo but then I have to go into yet another agreement/testing cycle for those.

 

[detansinn]

I always get a chuckle when people complain about all the tax payer money Tesla gets. Like we forgot about GM getting bailed out from bankruptcy. Or all the money big oil gets.

GM paid most of it back. Jusy sayin' -- don't own and don't plan to own a GM product.
Naturally, the big oil thing bothers me and part of the reason that I am an EV person.

 

[detansinn]

Seeing that email, if I ran Ford I’d probably delay any NACS plans and continue with the adapter strategy for now until I knew where they were going with this.

Could you imagine paying the money to retool to NACS only to find out that the 99.95% uptime is now 80% because new staff have to figure out how to maintain it. Or if there’s no expansion/upgrade so we’re limited to the existing 6,000? SCs - I would assume a NACS to CCS adapter would still work on EA/EVGo but then I have to go into yet another agreement/testing cycle for those.

Agreed. Ford is going to stick with the adapters. They've delayed other new EV models so the commitment for new models in 2025 isn't going to be applicable anyway. Ford has Supercharger network access and right now, that's a plus.

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