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

[Hammick]

I'm not sure what your use case is, but for three years I never used DCFC on my EVs - I charged at 20A/240V at home and had no problem going about my daily life. We are travelling more, and for me a long trip is between Bellingham and Eugene and it works fine. The worst case is that you might have to wait for a charge (or realistically go to a different charger) but that has not happened yet for me. All of the horror stories about EV charging pale in comparision to what the actual gas crisis of the 1970s looked like, with gas you have no other options.

Tesla stations are more convenient and reliable at the moment, but it isn't like Tesla is doing something magic that EA, BP Pulse and EV Go couldn't possibly manage - especially with large amounts of money being thrown at them by the government. What is disappointing is that Tesla is proving themselves to be an unreliable partner, it really shows the limitations of our economic system that one person can destroy the work of so many people.

I was most excited about the Tesla adapter for the Ford, because although I love it the thing is pretty poor as an EV. With an actual 300 mile range on my EV6 and super fast charging, I really don't even think about charging stations. The few times that I have needed them I had no problems, and if I did I would simply go to the next one.

Respectfully I will say that if you are "traveling" without needing DCFC then you aren't really traveling. We split time between Kansas City and Montana and the charging infrastructure on the route is pathetic at best.

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[Budshark]

By chance ,I came across this local st Louis story about excess tesla inventory where Tesla is stashing 400 new teslas at an abandoned local mall. It isnt clear exactly what their plan is. It certainly makes me wonder how bad things are for Tesla. You think about a normal large company that has marketing and forecasting departments which help to predict demand and push out cars during slower times and Tesla doesn't really have that. Their model has been "if you build it they will sell before they are even completed"

Hundreds of Tesla vehicles parked outside Chesterfield Mall. Why? (fox2now.com)

This is literally 2 miles from my house. They’ve been expanding it for months. A year ago there would be 20-30 cars. Now the whole lot is full. Usually it dwindled at quarter end. This time it didn’t. Just kept growing. There is a Tesla dealer 2 miles away. Another 30-40 cars sit on that lot at any time.

 

[hturnerfamily]

no manufacturing business is perfect, meaning that the upswings and changes in many, many aspects of the business, as well as upstream suppliers, transportation, production issues, product availability, shipping issues, and problems in other countries where parts originate, will effect any given day...
if you wish production to remain the same, regardless, you are going to have times when your product is almost already 'sold' before it even gets built, and other times when your production speed is faster than sales happen, meaning you must then 'store' that product somewhere until then - whether on your own facility, off-site lots, third-party lots, leased lots, dealer lots, and all those currently in 'transport' to a location, whether by truck or by train, etc.

if you slow your production just because of a 'forecast' of slower sales, you would essentially have to cut hours or lay off employees until something changes - that's not going to work well, either. It's never 'easy' in any business of this type, and it's never perfect. You have to have plans for overflow when times are slow, and plans for faster transportation and how to ramp up build times when production can't seem to keep up...

There is nothing 'dire' or strange about a manufacturer needing more 'space', whether for completed product storage, or for more manufacturing space...

I spoke with a local RV manufacturer of 18'-24' campers, with a unique 'no wood' build design - using a honeycomb sandwich design of a special waterproof product for the 'shell' of the camper, with not a single seam or connection point on the roof or front/back of the unit, and a unique 'welding' of the sides - no screws, nails, glue, or staples. His main issue is providing enough production for units that are sold at his own 6 manufacturer-owned sales locations in the southeast. He can't build them fast enough. But, he also can't get the products to build the units fast enough. Sure, he could 'ramp up' production, add employees and workers, and order more parts and products, but he knows that this would only result in a slow-down in the future when his current inventory runs outs and new products to produce the campers have not yet arrived - that doesn't make for a good business plan, at least if you want to keep employees.
His current plan results in much fewer options on the sales lots, but he also knows that, at this pace, if he doesn't slow production down in the winter/slower sales months, he will also have no place to park all these campers he keeps producing during slow months....

I was the procurement agent at a local Family runabout/ski Boat Building company back in the day. It was a VERY seasonal sales business, as you might can imagine.
My biggest aggravation was from TWO people: the Owner, and the Production manager.

The Owner was ALWAYS concerned about sales, yes, the lifeblood of the business, but also the AMOUNT OF INVENTORY on hand in any given month, ESPECIALLY during the slow fall/winter months.

The Production manager was ONLY and Always concerned about the employees, yes, the other lifeblood of the business, but also the AMOUNT OF INVENTORY on hand at any give TIME.

Sounds like they had the same thing in mind?
NO.
The Owner was concerned about the COST of the inventory that sits on the books, that have to be PAID to the suppliers, but many times BEFORE sales or production happens with those parts. This can be one of the deathnails of many production-based businesses.
The Production manager, though, was ONLY concerned that he ALWAYS had PLENTY of EVERYTHING the lines needed to PRODUCE those boats, with NEVER a lack of parts to assemble them. He could care less about the 'cost' of the inventory as it sits in the warehouse.

 

[BlueLightning]

Updated with Elon Musk's first comment after supercharger team layoffs:

"Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations"




News Article:

https://electrek.co/2024/04/29/tesl...cluding-entire-supercharger-team/#more-360146

At a time when EVs are switching to the NACS standard and Tesla is opening up the Supercharger network to all EVs, this is not good.

At minimum, how do you maintain the current network when youve fired the 500+ person team responsible for it? Article also intimates that supercharging expansion may halt after planned sites are finished.

Guess Elon will be driving nationwide with a little van repairing and up keeping the network, what a good leader, not! lol.

Get hot, there is a need out there!

Note: just being facetious, as I know the repair tech weren’t the ones that got fired.

 

[Ffxdude]

Guess Elon will be driving nationwide with a little van repairing and up keeping the network, what a good leader, not! lol.

Get hot, there is a need out there!

Note: just being facetious, as I know the repair tech weren’t the ones that got fired.

Someone got a wee bit too close to that one....

 

[srspring551]

I hope it's true that EA is stepping up its game.
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1143061_electrify-america-ev-charging-network-2024-growth

 

[Joe.....Montana]

Respectfully I will say that if you are "traveling" without needing DCFC then you aren't really traveling. We split time between Kansas City and Montana and the charging infrastructure on the route is pathetic at best.

I live in Billings, MT....going from Billings to Bozeman can be an adventure if you start hitting a 40mph head wind before Big Timber...or it's 15 degrees with a head wind. Can't imagine trying to go east from Billings.

Town Pump applied for and received grant money for fast chargers at several locations (Big Timber being one) yet they haven't manifested and I don't know where the build out stands.

 

[Texas Dan]

I hope it's true that EA is stepping up its game.
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1143061_electrify-america-ev-charging-network-2024-growth

As far as I can tell EA isn’t getting ANY of the NEVI money. I expect VW to spin off EA as soon as the Dieselgate reparations are finished. Until then I expect EA to just limp along and only do what they have to to stay out of court.

 

[potato]

I live in Billings, MT....going from Billings to Bozeman can be an adventure if you start hitting a 40mph head wind before Big Timber...or it's 15 degrees with a head wind. Can't imagine trying to go east from Billings.

Bit off topic but I crossed the Prairies earlier this year and I was AMAZED how much a head wind kills your range. Since I had plenty of time at chargers to think about it it does make sense. All the same increase in drag as if you were driving that much faster, but without covering more ground like if you actually were driving that much faster. Have to draft behind a truck if you need the range.

I sure hope cooler heads prevail at Tesla. The Supercharger network is the one thing that Tesla haters and fans alike all agree is a huge success. Don't know about the financials but it basically single handedly dragged EVs into the mainstream by making long distance travel feasible.

 

[Grumpy2]

Town Pump applied for and received grant money for fast chargers at several locations (Big Timber being one) yet they haven't manifested and I don't know where the build out stands.

That is the frustration of many of the State identified coming chargers, I just can't find a website that tells the status of the planned chargers under the IRA program.

 

[tls]

I am curious at what point (if at any) you guys ditch your car/truck and use Robotaxi or Robotruck in as needed bases?

Definitely looking forward to using these to transport the winged hogs I'll be raising.

It's kind of shocking how that huckster can still get people to take his shtick seriously, after more than a decade of just promising whatever magic horsepuckey he thought would sell cars...and never delivering it.

Still waiting for my 2015, APv1, Model S to drive itself across the country charging at "snake" superchargers and pick me up outside my house. Funny how a 2024 CT can't do that either...

 

[tls]

I hope it's true that EA is stepping up its game.
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1143061_electrify-america-ev-charging-network-2024-growth

Honestly the Justice Department should have gone after them for noncompliance with the dieselgate consent decree long ago. They won't actually become a useful charging network unless VW feels real pain.

 

[detansinn]

The repair techs were fired.

https://futurism.com/the-byte/supercharger-maintenance-workers-network-disrepair

 

[mags]

I spoke with a local RV manufacturer of 18'-24' campers, with a unique 'no wood' build design - using a honeycomb sandwich design of a special waterproof product for the 'shell' of the camper, with not a single seam or connection point on the roof or front/back of the unit, and a unique 'welding' of the sides - no screws, nails, glue, or staples. His main issue is providing enough production for units that are sold at his own 6 manufacturer-owned sales locations in the southeast. He can't build them fast enough. But, he also can't get the products to build the units fast enough. Sure, he could 'ramp up' production, add employees and workers, and order more parts and products, but he knows that this would only result in a slow-down in the future when his current inventory runs outs and new products to produce the campers have not yet arrived - that doesn't make for a good business plan, at least if you want to keep employees.
His current plan results in much fewer options on the sales lots, but he also knows that, at this pace, if he doesn't slow production down in the winter/slower sales months, he will also have no place to park all these campers he keeps producing during slow months....

Off topic: Sounds like LIV Trailers?

 

[moder8tor]

I too am highly disappointed with all the hype of the Tesla adapter working for us at Tesla stations. Here in central AZ there is not a Tesla V3/4 station within 100 miles of me and there is only two directions. South to Phoenix or NW to Kingman that I can possibly catch one. There are an abundance of V2 stations but I am under the impression that they will never be compatible. What a let down!

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