Ford, GM you don’t advertise on X? Biden you don’t invite Tesla to White House EV conference, Gavin you need more chargers in CA, but won’t award any gov money to Tesla. Elon, Ok hold my beer.
I used to think it was just traditional manufacturers and business owners who often did not seem to care about their employees, and even customers, but I am sad to say Elon seems the same.
A company like Tesla needs really good talent to keep growing, but if I were a talented person entering the workforce, why would I risk working there? Why would anyone? You now see a team that helped win some of Tesla’s most valuable victories getting unceremoniously axed? What message does that send? Elon’s behavior gives off such a bad smell that I can’t imagine wanting to stake their career there.
@@SquidDesign yet the best of the best engineers are queuing up to join and change the World. The top-level management doesn't care about their feelings, just about THE MISSION. If they contribute to that then they get freedom to soar (plus stock & benefits - ask Farzad). As soon as they don't contribute then they're out. The mission is for the benefit of everyone. His empathy and affinity is with the species, not the individual. He busts a gut 6.5 days per week himself for the mission and expects it of everyone else.
Regardless of the outcome, Elon certainly could have made the change without such damage in terms of goodwill and confidence to current and future Tesla owners as well as external business parters to the Supercharger network. You can only burn so many bridges until that river can't be crossed.
Upgrades for V4 is more important yet is only getting new units with no actual upgrade? Two refresh ers for 1 upgrade? One of probably many Lame projects handled inefficiently. Everything charging isn't stopped?
I disagree, Steve Jobs fired people left and right, and look at the results. Now look at apple hasn't come up with anything really innovative since Steve died.
@@merlinmidday4644the new V4 kiosks need to be paired with 1000 V DC higher voltage transformer / DC Power cabinets with possible higher voltage and current connections from the supporting utility.
Umm, an unwoke, NO. From someone who's done 4 care free SoCal-Austin/Starbase trips in FSDed M3P & MYLR: I saw one independent installations contractor post a video that he was sad for those let go, & how, but understood that he & his peers would continue to be paid & supplied, PLUS new contractors and site owners, such as Walmart & "transitioning" BP, etc., gas stations, were already being scheduled for taking over from the old team's expansion projects. Also, that the "pudding proof" of the new deployment process would sooner than later suffice as "explanation" much better than Tesla attempting to convince the already doubting public of the veracity of their new approach.
I have 2 Tesla's (and I love them). Tesla is 40% of my stock holding (and I'm a bit in the red). I have been an unquestioning bull. I now have some doubts, for the first time ever. The Supercharger network was/is the corner stone of Tesla dominance - and now fire the whole team?
@@alexd302 I also thought the charging network would be a key asset for Tesla....not anymore. Having said that, Tesla isn't just abandoning the charger network. They're expanding the current locations and will plug any holes. Also, they can build the chargers inside a factory, sell them and then ship them out. Less people needed.
@@alexd302 How will he do that. He got rid of the people who can do that. Within 6 months supercharger stations will get congested as Tesla continues to add cars but slows the growth of the network. Why buy a Tesla if critical stations are backed up? This will kill sales TODAY at a time Tesla needs to increase demand.
Elon will hire back sufficient SC team to maintain the infrastructure. Future SC growth will focus on 1. induction charging for robotaxis. 2. 350kW for Cybertrucks. 3. Mega chargers for Semis needing solar + Megapacks.
Elon has acknowledged he is neurodiverse and his spontaneous behavior laying off significant staff with no warning reflects that. This may be a great decision based on his firm belief that robotaxis will totally replace personal vehicle ownership and make the planned supercharger network redundant. However, the present business depends on people buying personal vehicles in the interim until robotaxis serve people's transportation needs. I think this will hurt sales in the near term.
I'm thinking this has more to do with the current state of V4 chargers. They seem late and maybe he felt shaking up that group would help accelerate V4. But at the end of the day 250 kw is plenty in most situations. They really just needed 1000v charging for Cybertruck and a few 3rd party cars to reach the full 250kw.
Yes, not because of the problems with expanding the supercharger network but how this is going to affect future potential buyers of Tesla's that may not buy a Tesla now because they may not trust that they will be able to charge their vehicle. I know, I know you can definitly charge your Tesla but will buyers see it that way.
From someone who's done 4 care free SoCal-Austin/Starbase trips in FSDed M3P & MYLR: I saw one independent installations contractor post a video that he was sad for those let go, & how, but understood that he & his peers would continue to be paid & supplied, PLUS new contractors and site owners, such as Walmart & "transitioning" BP, etc., gas stations, were already being scheduled for taking over from the old team's expansion projects. Also, that the "pudding proof" of the new deployment process would sooner than later suffice as "explanation" much better than Tesla attempting to convince the already doubting public of the veracity of their new approach.
An absolute boneheaded move! There was value to the talent they assembled. If Tesla no longer saw the value, they could have sold the division or brought on an equity partner to fund the expansion. To just walk away is simply idiotic, and it sends a very negative message to people considering EVs but are hesitating due to the perceived lack of infrastructure.
@@rurakker "Logical" if you want a run on the stock, followed by a hostile Board coup attempt, followed by a "change in direction" by those who "know better" and would still blame Elon when their "Big Brains" screw up, followed by decline, followed by Piecemeal uncoordinated breakup of the various groups...... Probably funded by those who currently feel threatened by the systemic transition... But who would recoup that "investment over the coming years as the increase the price of the commodities which would regain market share and which they control (IF you think "logically" you know who THEY are...?) Does that sound "logical"? . And if you're an "investor" caught in the middle of that? Good luck.
I am voting no on his new package he's to distracted and on drugs... and making rash decisions and stealing AI for xAi sooo he's doing the same as Twitter.
Tesla had to build charging in order to sell cars. The government funds for charger build out are just starting to infuse money. If charging does not support AI and FSD, and robots, it's not in the direction of Tesla.
While I COMPLETELY agree with Elon that “the best service is no service (needed)” … the problem is UNTIL Tesla gets there… they should continue to provide exceptional service. They cannot cut down on customer service staff to the point customers are so frustrated that they can’t reach anybody! THAT is the biggest gripe with most Tesla customers product experience. I used to make fun of Apple back in the day until one day I bought my first Apple Nano back in 2006 and experienced how incredibly exceptional their customer service was and that is what drew me to buy more Apple products since and to this day they continue to have terrific customer service.
This was the right decision; he understands how the world will look post-FSD. This kind of charging won't be relevant in a Robotaxi world; why would anyone waste their time waiting to charge? They will use automated charging stations and swap out.
As a fan still think they could of done it differently as many other customers cannot even get ahold of them. All the contacts are no longer there. Elon already mentioned they're going to be slowing down new supercharger insulation and some of their good locations are already getting change to other providers that did actually need more charging. Hopefully just in short-term.
Great discussion. I don’t understand why people are criticizing a decision without knowing the actual impact this decision has or will have on the business (I am not talking about individual impact)
If you can't understand why this is different to all the other changes Tesla have made then you don't understand the importance of the charging network. Even if Musk were to hire the 500 back and put them under a new director he could trust, the external partners will not work as willingly with Tesla. The external impacts and the inertia this will create will hold Tesla back and there is now nothing they can do to eliminate this inertia. It will take 5-10 years to get trust again with external partners.
Seems to be the old delete a part and see if you can get away with it. If you can't, you put the part back in. Problem though. A part is not loyal or disloyal. It's a part. People do not have high allegiance to any entity that fires them and then says oops. Musk wants to do things way ahead of when they should occur. His sense of timing is terrible. Isaacson's description of the robotaxi is a good example. He wanted to build a steering wheel free car over 2 years ago. Senior people had to talk him out of doing that by saying that Tesla could get good money for an economy car. There are other examples. SC network isn't even close to mature. Thinking of it as a commodity is way too early.
I think the Supercharger team was doing a great job. Living in Southern California and how quickly Superchargers have been added is impressive. I now have 5 Supercharging locations within 9 miles. And over 10 Supercharging locations within 15.6 miles. Who can complain about that when there were only 3 supercharging locations within 13 miles three years ago. To me it has been a great achievement.
As a European living near Airbus HQ it's so good to hear how big European companies can't develop product effectively compared to us companies like boey
Tesla gave supercharging to the industry for free after building the network and proving it’s worth. Now it’s time for the industry to do its part to invest in the network. It should not be up to Tesla to carry that full load.
Robotaxis will benefit massively from induction charging if they can get practical charging speeds. Found this on electrek: According to The Robot Report, Tesla’s acquisition of Wiferion was more of an “acqui-hiring” situation. The automaker kept Wiferion’s engineering team on board and sold its operations and manufacturing business to PULS. So maybe with engineers from wiferions team, Tesla may have decided to pivot very quickly and build a manufacturing and deployment teams designed for that technology specifically. This might make sense to line up with a upcoming robotaxi network. The bigger picture around robotaxis is that they will not only reduce the number of cars on the road but make personal transportation far cheaper - and may negate the need for people to even own cars - so if that’s the near future - then even the idea of selling/owning cars could be disrupted. Tesla might disrupt themselves by creating robo taxis - so it would makes sense to really go all-in in terms of focusing on that.
What exactly did Tesla have to gain with these “partnerships”? Tesla is probably testing the waters to see how far behind the other charging infrastructure companies are and how dependent the other auto OEMs are on them.
I'm wondering if Elon doesn't want to install the old equipment if a 6 month gap will make it better to install the old equipment when the new new ones are 6 months out
Nope. It's about capital allocation.This is not the time to invest in support services. In a a downturn focus on core. Supercharger investment will not stop. In the next growth cycle there will be renewed acceleration in supercharger growth.
@@markthomas7279 Could add that after saying "We're IN!" Other companies almost immediately reversed course (I would add with little or no criticism?) leaving Tesla building chargers that wouldn't be used to their full potential.... maybe even their PROFITABLE level until either Tesla sold a lot more cars, or those companies returned. Hence the X post "completing those under construction, updating old sites, filling gaps in the network"?
The amount of excitement despair gloom and doom fud what have you astonishes me! The supercharger network is a massive beast that's been built up over more than a , didn't just fall off the table and shatter it persists. Legacy auto through in the towel on growth so why grow the Network anymore I completely understand the move
Farzad, yah but. Elon canned 75% at Twitter. He keep a core of dedicated, energetic, productive employees. Firing 100% of the SuC department is batshit crazy! The SuC department has lost ALL continuity. It will be difficult to rebuild. Goodwill will be lost with existing owners. New sales will be lost.
How is destroying their greatest asset saving the company from stagnation. Where are all the robotaxis going to charge? Who's going to set that up. Oh yea I forgot. The Robots are going to do that.
I believe Elon fired the team because the head of the team resisted his order to layoff. He just did it to proof a point. I also believe he will hire back some of them and reorganiz the business.
Agreed this is Elon being Elon. You saw it in Twitter. He probably always managed this way but it was not in the public eye in the early days of Tesla.
@@singed8853 Specifically, the message was to other executives. He told them all to take the layoffs seriously. Help him cut the slack. If you don't, you are the slack and so is your whole team.
Thinking about what you need as a robotaxi operator, The Supercharger network just won't cut it. You need to charge and clean these cars and you need to to automate.
Still have lots of V2 charging locations in my area. The locations are fine, but it takes too long to charge with V2. Also, the locations are so far apart that there is extremely limited (none) flexibility for the system to reroute people to left busy chargers during times of high demand. This was a problem during the recent eclipse. There was one V2 station with 3/8 stalls down and a line that wrapped around the building, for several hours the line still wrapped around the building. 15, 18+ cars deep waiting for V2 cabinet sharing charging. It was bad. If that site also had 8 V3s (and where the heck are the V4s?) it would have been much better. The infrastructure is still far too sparse and anemic to be slowing down the number of stalls being built. I have had other road trips where I have had to reroute multiple times due to both lack of infrastructure where I wanted to drive and too many cars trying to recharge at the same time.
Hi. The SC network has always been intended for travelers since the start and free of charge. However, chaos theory points out the unexpected factor lurks around corners. As the Model 3 became “the” Tesla to have, Elon was obligated to not only install more units per location but many many more locations. A plan was formulated to have increased power/faster charging since the M3 battery’s technology is able. That means shorter time charging. Great. Chaos intervened, again, with the Y being even more successful! People in apartments, rental units, older homes charge locally and that’s what is happening in your area. As the price per kilowatt increases, I wonder how that will play as to sales of EVs. So far so good? Wait, there’s more. Without wondering why, the push to get the Tesla technology as the de facto charger, Tesla agreed to allow other brands to use its SC network. More chaos? Here it is. Only newer SC are compatible with other EVs as software and hardware updates are needed. IF there is a team needed to make all this happen, it’s the team Elon just fired. You get the picture?
I really love their supercharging decision. As they will expand existing charging networks and reducing capex tremendously . So much easier and cheaper to add 10 chargers to an existing cha ging location compared to making a new charging location with 10 superchargers.
This is true. There are plenty of V2 locations out there that could add an equal number of V3 or V4 stalls. Even still, there are plenty of stretches of road that require more than a 100% charge to make it between charging sites. It’s fine to make existing sites better, but more sites are still required.
No, it doesn't work that way. See video by Kyle Out of Spec , TomM who knows WTF they are talking about re DC charging. It costs almost as much as a new site, to expand or upgrade existing site (eg v2 to v3), replace transformers and upgrade grid connection, etc. Likely need new permitting/planning from utility, city etc as well... only time saved , is no siting decision/negotiation w/ real estate owner.
I recently took my Model Y from Texas to Michigan and back and had to do somewhat of a zigzag pattern to hit all the superchargers which was not a problem because I was not in a rush. Most of those out of big city chargers were six packs and it was rare if I saw another Tesla Charging at the time I arrivedat each one. My opinion is we need more chargers in other locations throughout the more rural parts of the country in order to make cross country travel as efficient as possible. Adding to current superchargers is only necessary in certain locations which Tesla has the data on and that's fine. The larger need is to fill in the gaps in the middle of the country in between the big city centers.
Dismissing everyone in the team is a way for everyone to justify why they should be still in the charging team? It is emotionally difficult to dismiss a significant part of the team. So better for interested employees to reapply for a similar job again to see if they still qualify for key and more difficult work in the charging team?
The modular stations have been around for several years and are nothing new now. In addition the modular stations do not guarantee a rapid install. External factors can slow things down. I;ve seen a modular stations take over 455 days to complete from start of construction. Its 2 miles from my house.
This is very simple. The company is re allocating resources to were they are currently needed. EV growth is down and they are slowing supercharger growth based on the usage data they are currently seeing.
@@MyPapagioto make a call: Incorrect or Correct? we would have to zoom out and would have to know the strategy and goals that only Elon Musk and the Board of Directors know.
Elons gigantic pay package is more than enough to pay the supercharger team! This was a public execution of a lady who did not give him a list to fire 20% of her dept! For spite he fired the whole dept!
I typically trust that Elon doesn't do things without a specific purpose in mind but perception-wise the single biggest anxiety people have about switching to EVs is charging and range. This move isn't helping that public perception.
If he has the reason why do not comunicate to us? Until today the problem was tesla has to much cash. That is why share holder wants buyback. I think the problem is we lost the path to see how can grow the profit and the prod volume .
@@mrbickity Doesn't mean it won't impact sales negatively though. He can not care about public perception, but certain concerns will diminish demand or tarnish a brand.
@@tonyvelasco5732 I might even agree with you. I have invested with Tesla for over 10 years and this is something you need to stomach or don't invest in him. It sucks but he is the man with the vision and we are not.
I don't think it's that big of a deal in terms of selling cars. He said he will focus on improving current chargers, just not expanding. The current charging infrastructure that Tesla has is perfectly fine, they have been building them over the last 15 years. When I drive long distance, there are always chargers readily available. So what's the problem?
from an inside source (Exec level) - she argued with Elon about layoffs, and so she along w/ all under her had to go. with Elon, you can argue about engineering, processes, etc, but when it comes to personnel, no argument will be tolerated. Elon has been known to let very talented ppl go. right, wrong or indifferent.
Have you noticed how few people are left in the leadership team at Tesla? Tom Zhu, Vaibhav Taneja, and a part-time CEO. That’s it. We are starting to get the scent of Musk’s leadership: it stinks.
The message seems to be that if as a manager you put love of your team before the needs of the company you will lose. You will go and your team will be spanked.
@@LL-tc1pn she (Italian personality like his advertising guru? wonder what she thinks...) Tinuchi may have been hard to deal with, Elon would have reciprocated, not compromised ... 500 souls seen as a potential managerial challenge, preference to clean house even if it will not be easy.
@@michaelcalmeyerhentschel8304 Unfortunately, she was a great talent but chose to pick the wrong battle. Like I was told, Elon will tolerate being challenged in engineering, and other areas but not on personnel. she defied him and had to go. He was absent for the good part of last 2 years, and came back in time to clean house. I was told that he was losing patience with Baglino and has been unhappy with him for a while. Allowing him to resign, was very generous of Elon is how some close to the matter are seeing it. However, it signaled that Elon is back and very much in the house. Him coming back is a much needed change.
This sounds like a cost-cutting move, because of economy, or competition? Whatever reason may be, Elon sounds determined to cut work force/costs. The comment on slower growth of superchargers fits in with cost-cutting, the outlay for infrastructure before income generation is huge in starting a new supercharger site. I would expect it to be a temporary situation, but I think it was poorly carried out, with no guidance to partners in current projects.
No. It's exactly what he said. It's refocussing on core and growth. In such times support service growth must be delayed toll cashflow growth returns. Probably 18 months or so. Good decision!!
One of the biggest objections people have had to changing over to EV's is anxiety range. Unless there's some surprise he is keeping up his sleeve, this move seems to be something that is not going to encourage sales.
Exactly, especially when nobody else is selling EVs at any meaningful levels..it's not their job to build out network for others when demand isn't there. They will do so when they see the need for it from their fleet data, slowly but purposefully.
@@ChanningChea The Government "Gives" out money AFTER the build, NOT before. Now, that being the case, MAYBE some of those car companies should request that THEY build "own brand" chargers, with "Tesla inside", Then take the Government Money? (Maybe saving a bailout later?) . You know why they "may not" do that? Because 1) Having reversed THEIR plans, they wouldn't make enough money from the charging revenue at the moment for it to be worthwhile. and 2) THEY would have to start building EVs again...... But THEY can't make money on EVs. . Do you think I MIGHT be close?
@@ChanningChea They only got 17mil from the infrastructure grant. Tell me how much they can actually build with that? Just the annual salaries for 500 people is more than that.
Understood. But the whole point of Tesla building the network in the first place was to enable vehicle sales. Other charging networks were and are a joke. Once customers can't trust Tesla to build and manage the network they will stop buying Tesla's. The future of TEsla has now been put in the hands of companies that have demonstrated they suck.
Your best video ever when it comes to understanding Elon, Tesla, and the difference between a Tim Cook organization and what an Elon Musk Tesla. Well done!
Why would anyone with talent want to work in an environment like that? The only people who will stay will work hard sure, but they wont be your star players.
Elon is one of the greatest entrepreneur of our era. He has done more to advance the cause of human civilization than any human being in our time. But Elon’s laying off the entire supercharger group strikes me to be a callous, ruthless move. This was no Twitter cleaning house of deadwood underperforming employees. This was laying off 500 Tesla employees to be made an example of for the rest of the company. Knowing the Tesla culture means that many of the 500 workers were dedicated, hardworking employees that didn’t deserve to be eliminated because their leaders were too slow to downsize. IMO this action will not age well. The Tesla supercharging network is a key element in the success of advancing renewable energy. Now there is nothing but uncertainty.
Robo taxibwill mean many manymore superchargers required. I think they will be redesigned to be cheaper and faster to deploy. This is a small pause not a stop
They are not going to be using the supercharging network to charge the robotaxis. Tesla is going to need robotaxi service centers in each city, where they will be cleaned, charged, and maintenanced.
Elon hasn't made any mistake! It's a perfectly sensible management decision! Tesla was forced to do internally the whole planning and installation of the chargers, because nobody else could 10 years ago. But now, things have changed, plenty of local companies now can do it much more efficiently than a centralized team. They can therefore subcontract permitting, digging dirt, laying cables and pouring concrete to third parties, and concentrate on their core strengths, i.e. building the chargers proper, improving the software, and managing the system.
You might have a point if Tesla hadn't been installing chargers in "2 weeks" at as low as 20% of the average cost. That does smack of "efficiency"....?
All the digging dirt, laying cables and pouring concrete was subcontracted to third parties. The 500 people fired were not construction workers. This was a stupid management decision. Elon got pushback from Rebecca Tinucci about fireing staff so he threw a temper tantrum like a big baby and fired everyone. If Elon had instead said he was doubling the size of the supercharger system instead of fireing everyone I'm abosolutely positive that you would have said that was a sensible decision. Your opinion has no basis in fact but is simply blindly agreeing with anything Elon does. You need to start thinking for yourself.
@@rogerstarkey5390 What's a lot of assumption? As far as the temper tantrum I've heard it from various sources and it's consistant with his past behaviour. As far as @st-ex8506 just blindly agreeing with anything Elon does I really doubt before any of this happened that he was advocatig for Elon to fire all of them and stop the growth of the Supercharger Network. I'd bet a lot of money that he beleived the exact opposite.
@@arseliopereira2541 How come people like you always know so much better than those who have all the facts in their hands? Fact is that Elon has been masterfully implementing his strategies so far, for both Tesla and SpaceX, leaving all Tesla's competitors in the dirt, save maybe BYD! Do I trust Elon's business judgement? Of course I do. And, as a former executive in venture financing (now retired), I believe I am pretty good at making myself my own opinion... I was paid to do so, thanks for your concern! His vision and implementation skills have, since my first investment in TSLA back in March 2013, multiplied my wealth about 10 times. He delivered well above what I ever hoped he would! There is no denying facts, especially not when motivated by hate! Can I be critical of Elon also? Of course I can, and I am... of his Twitter/X acquisition, for instance!
Aside the reasoning for firing the team...this isn't a positive for their ability to attract top talent. It'd withold me from joining their organization, knowing they can cut massively, regardless of individual performance
Just voted my shares just before groking this. Leave it to Farzad to understand and take this start-up culture in stride. "Culture" has "Cult" embedded. He's read Sun Tsu and of course internalized it. If he had to send a signal, the shock might be more containable/transitionable here for the moment. I personally thought charging would remain a BIG contributor to profitability and quality experience/reputation that no one else in EV presently has, so I get nervous. But I guess I should have faith. Yet again.
Robotaxis will need to use inductive charging, so charging stations are going to look dffierent, and so will be the process of installing them. I'm sure many people have pointed this out. I very much enjoy your channel, but I didn't have 1:15:14 so check if you said it too!
The biggest TH-camr's selling point of Tesla is their Supercharger network. Tesla still needs to expand it the same reason they started it. The robo Taxi still needs it even if it may be wireless. As customers, we still need it to expand 4X here in Australia 🇦🇺. 😢
These discussions are so on point. You guys really understand. Long term Tesla can’t be extrapolated from what happens yesterday or today. You have to understand Elon to predict the future.
I can see him offloading the supercharger management planning etc to someone else and just concentrating on designing the chargers, maybe building them and licensing it out or franchising.
I think this move is similar to the reason why they are not building new factories; they have the capacity to build more with what they have especially since car sales are impacted by high interest rates. It could be that they want to scale back their spending on building out the network since there will be an over capacity of chargers and under utilization of any newly built charging stations (especially since all other car manufacturers are scaling their production). And if they are not building new charging locations, then the capital expenditure on that team will not make sense for this current economic climate, hence the layoffs. I can see them potentially rebuilding that team again once interest rates go down, but by that time, it could be that Robotaxi matures and those chargers might not be as relevant since Robotaxis will have their own wirelessly charging depots as opposed to requiring charging stations for humans drivers.
At the beginning the question was” how do we make fast charging available “ now the question is how do we make charging available ubiquitous ly “ it is not extending our supercharger network! Ubiquitous is every street etc
It’s impressive how many people are totally misunderstanding this move! Tesla Superchargers are way ahead of the competition in all dimensions; availability, reliability, speed, etc. Elon & Co have all the realtime demand/usage data. 📊 they know _exactly_ how much the chargers are being used and where more are required. The network is already superb and everyone is using it without any issues. So why cut so many people from the team? Simple: They can in the short term without affecting service level because they have such a huge lead and great systems. It’s like when Barcelona Sold Lionel Messi, they no longer needed him to keep winning! The moment Tesla sees the need for more chargers they can get them online fast! Elon is reallocating resources ahead of a potential recession. IF anything we will look back on this move as prescient and proactive financial prudence.
And to add...a year ago every car company was giving aggressive numbers for their potential ev sales. Now we know they are mostly duds. So that expected demand is just not there.
There is a supercharger factory in China. All gas station make minimal profit, they only attract customer to buy other stuff at there stops. It is a lot of charging station to maintain . Better to let this be handled but petro company. ( like replacing coal peaker plant by battery storage)
Tesla needs to focus on customer commitments and obligations. FSD is funded by car sales and the supercharger network is a solid reason why people buy Tesla. If where I live Tesla pulls the plug on building out the promised network I'll exit the brand as many other choices exist. Sayonara Elon Musk.
Honestly I don't think expanding the supercharger network is necessary. You only really need it on interstates for long drives but most people charge their cars either at home or work because it's much cheaper.
It is needed, less so for roadtrips except some missing areas... Are you near major urban areas, where folks don't have home charging? many of them are FULL much of the time (SF, LA, etc). Other countries (Australia) still need a lot of buildout for their just-now-starting sales growth.. and now lots of projects just got cancelled/up in smoke.
From what I've heard about normal businesses is that not only does it take a long time to make a change. But if the change then turns out to be bad, it takes even longer to fix. Because they'd have to admit that the thing that took so long and cost so much to get done was a mistake, and admitting you made a mistake is just not done.
The culture was pretty toxic when I quit a few weeks before this.... management was not improving fast enough and was holding back the extremely talented workers. Having a culture that requires that things be screwed up all the time to give the illusion that progress was happening is just plain dumb. Screwing up things that other companies have been doing successfully for years because you refuse to have any process or procedure is not the fastest way to make progress. Focus should be on solving actual issues, not all the day to day screw ups that are completely avoidable. Was really sad to see brute force as the only option and never efficient engineering day after day.
"Everyone is replaceable", thats's the statement he backs up with action. Every 5 years he prunes his human component. Then, as in nature ...growth happens 😮
as we are getting higher density battles and shorter charging time there is less need for more charging station. definitely there is no need for speed of growing
How this affects me? I will keep my ICE Chevy impala for road trips. I will continue to drive my Ioniq 6 for commuting to work and back (30 miles a day). I'm undecided if I will continue showing my Ioniq 6 at local Cars and Coffees because there is no reliable charging infrastructure for road trips. I am still committed to EVs as a local use case especially if you have a home charger.
@@meggi8048 I charge at home and am great on most long trips I do. But there are a couple destinations with no way to charge above a 110 line without driving 80+ minutes one way to a supercharger every couple days. My optimism has relied on the assumption that Tesla would eventually get around to closer stations. I assumed I would never buy anything but a Tesla again. I’m back to gas for the next one if it isn’t solved by then.
1:35 hopefully another company seize the layoffs as an opportunity. Rivian etc now has their pick at the top talent in public EV charging. It's an opportunity for them to make a big push with their own charging network
This action by Elon is the action of a tyrant out of control and gives a lot of good people reason to believe well maybe this is the good reason to have a union!!!... something to seriously think about!
also, building supercharger locations is Capex intensive and I seriously doubt they are cashflow positive. Opex is easily a couple mill a year to the site host. And you sell something that, averages, what?, 34 cents a unit. They are on record that they save Capex by building the next model on an existing lines even if the cost per car is higher.
If I'm a talented engineer, I will only work at Tesla for a 5x than normal compensation, why would I give my all if I am going to be axed at any time. Elon also says "have more children" but creates the most unstable work environment where parents are probably going to struggle.
Shotwell said it best in a SpaceX interview sometime way back: ”I was always frustrated with Elon, until I realized his job IS to keep us uncomfortable.” 😊
I think its right to build more in the places which are already busy, I would think most people day to day will charge at home only using the super charges when on a trip
I believe that Elon is sending a message that staff need to stay profitable and keep the focus for up coming changes. Also to not get sidelined with any union intervention or they will find that there will be more severe change.
This is one of the most profound dialogs on Tesla and Elon and as an investor I certainly appreciate you and Hans immensely. Thank you. On another thought - it strikes me that Tesla is going to need a huge logistical implementation for SC's for both the the Semi and Gen 2 to become a reality. 50,000 to 100,000 Semi's on the road by 2027! Where are they going to fuel? I'm thinking travel centers such as Pilot and Loves are the 3rd party experts in logistics, regulatory networks, POS needs etc. Tesla makes plug and play units then delivers. They do the rest and take the heat for any dropped balls.
Thats his style. He let go most of twitter, then re-hired some of the layed off people when things broke. X worked out beautifully. This is how you stay lean and efficient.
It’s so funny watching all of these people that think they know more about resource allocation and running multi billion dollar companies than Elon Musk. One of the greatest, if not the greatest entrepreneur world has ever seen.
....but I also think that Elon needs Larry back. I think Larry had a way with Elon that nobody else has, not even Kimbal. But I dont think yall read my post anyways, but I still respect everyone of yall.
I was actually thinking that as well it seems as if they have insight that isn't publicly known yet like possibly a battery step change in capacity so superchargers will be needed less because a car will get 600+ miles or range or something like that...
Yes the other car companies have jumped on board the Tesla supercharging network, but haven't they also just scaled back their commitment to EVs? There seems to be a backlash of sorts towards EVs happening now, across the board. Is this some sort of powerplay trying to get Tesla to spend huge sums of money?
was this affected by the availability or pricing of transformers. Also possible that this unit was the source of too many leaks. Bottom line. Anyone can be replaced.
Ford, GM you don’t advertise on X? Biden you don’t invite Tesla to White House EV conference, Gavin you need more chargers in CA, but won’t award any gov money to Tesla. Elon, Ok hold my beer.
Exactly!
Why should the tax-payer subsidise Tesla and wealthy BEV buyers
Obama/Biden had him in the white house daily. It is how he became the richest man in the world. Elon does not invite Biden to Tesla.....
@@MegaWilderness They same reason we help pay for oil exploration via massive government subsidies. it is for the benefit of us all.
Pull himself up by the bootstraps
I can't imagine pouring your heart and soul into tesla and being absolute believer and finding you get cut 😢
I used to think it was just traditional manufacturers and business owners who often did not seem to care about their employees, and even customers, but I am sad to say Elon seems the same.
A company like Tesla needs really good talent to keep growing, but if I were a talented person entering the workforce, why would I risk working there? Why would anyone? You now see a team that helped win some of Tesla’s most valuable victories getting unceremoniously axed? What message does that send? Elon’s behavior gives off such a bad smell that I can’t imagine wanting to stake their career there.
@@SquidDesign yet the best of the best engineers are queuing up to join and change the World. The top-level management doesn't care about their feelings, just about THE MISSION. If they contribute to that then they get freedom to soar (plus stock & benefits - ask Farzad). As soon as they don't contribute then they're out. The mission is for the benefit of everyone. His empathy and affinity is with the species, not the individual. He busts a gut 6.5 days per week himself for the mission and expects it of everyone else.
@@garyrooksbyyes 56 Billion payout is all about "the mission".
"Work 100 hours a week hardcore and you'll get rewarded" so you work 100 hours a week hardcore... And get fired 🤬
Regardless of the outcome, Elon certainly could have made the change without such damage in terms of goodwill and confidence to current and future Tesla owners as well as external business parters to the Supercharger network. You can only burn so many bridges until that river can't be crossed.
Upgrades for V4 is more important yet is only getting new units with no actual upgrade? Two refresh ers for 1 upgrade? One of probably many Lame projects handled inefficiently.
Everything charging isn't stopped?
I disagree, Steve Jobs fired people left and right, and look at the results. Now look at apple hasn't come up with anything really innovative since Steve died.
@@merlinmidday4644the new V4 kiosks need to be paired with 1000 V DC higher voltage transformer / DC Power cabinets with possible higher voltage and current connections from the supporting utility.
Umm, an unwoke, NO. From someone who's done 4 care free SoCal-Austin/Starbase trips in FSDed M3P & MYLR: I saw one independent installations contractor post a video that he was sad for those let go, & how, but understood that he & his peers would continue to be paid & supplied, PLUS new contractors and site owners, such as Walmart & "transitioning" BP, etc., gas stations, were already being scheduled for taking over from the old team's expansion projects. Also, that the "pudding proof" of the new deployment process would sooner than later suffice as "explanation" much better than Tesla attempting to convince the already doubting public of the veracity of their new approach.
I have 2 Tesla's (and I love them). Tesla is 40% of my stock holding (and I'm a bit in the red).
I have been an unquestioning bull. I now have some doubts, for the first time ever.
The Supercharger network was/is the corner stone of Tesla dominance - and now fire the whole team?
He deleted the team, not the network.
@@kymtoobe He put expansion on hold and will just concentrate on maintenance of the existing.
@@alexd302 I also thought the charging network would be a key asset for Tesla....not anymore.
Having said that, Tesla isn't just abandoning the charger network.
They're expanding the current locations and will plug any holes.
Also, they can build the chargers inside a factory, sell them and then ship them out. Less people needed.
@@alexd302 How will he do that. He got rid of the people who can do that. Within 6 months supercharger stations will get congested as Tesla continues to add cars but slows the growth of the network. Why buy a Tesla if critical stations are backed up? This will kill sales TODAY at a time Tesla needs to increase demand.
Elon will hire back sufficient SC team to maintain the infrastructure. Future SC growth will focus on 1. induction charging for robotaxis. 2. 350kW for Cybertrucks. 3. Mega chargers for Semis needing solar + Megapacks.
Elon has acknowledged he is neurodiverse and his spontaneous behavior laying off significant staff with no warning reflects that. This may be a great decision based on his firm belief that robotaxis will totally replace personal vehicle ownership and make the planned supercharger network redundant. However, the present business depends on people buying personal vehicles in the interim until robotaxis serve people's transportation needs. I think this will hurt sales in the near term.
Robo taxis in rural areas? This is crazy.
I'm thinking this has more to do with the current state of V4 chargers. They seem late and maybe he felt shaking up that group would help accelerate V4.
But at the end of the day 250 kw is plenty in most situations. They really just needed 1000v charging for Cybertruck and a few 3rd party cars to reach the full 250kw.
Yes, not because of the problems with expanding the supercharger network but how this is going to affect future potential buyers of Tesla's that may not buy a Tesla now because they may not trust that they will be able to charge their vehicle. I know, I know you can definitly charge your Tesla but will buyers see it that way.
From someone who's done 4 care free SoCal-Austin/Starbase trips in FSDed M3P & MYLR: I saw one independent installations contractor post a video that he was sad for those let go, & how, but understood that he & his peers would continue to be paid & supplied, PLUS new contractors and site owners, such as Walmart & "transitioning" BP, etc., gas stations, were already being scheduled for taking over from the old team's expansion projects. Also, that the "pudding proof" of the new deployment process would sooner than later suffice as "explanation" much better than Tesla attempting to convince the already doubting public of the veracity of their new approach.
An absolute boneheaded move! There was value to the talent they assembled. If Tesla no longer saw the value, they could have sold the division or brought on an equity partner to fund the expansion. To just walk away is simply idiotic, and it sends a very negative message to people considering EVs but are hesitating due to the perceived lack of infrastructure.
It's not a zero sum game. Other charge infrastructure providers may scoop them up and accelerate their installs. That's a net positive for EV owners.
Not walking away from superchargers. Just a reorganization.
The average consumer has no idea about Teslas moving in hiring or firing.
If you're a shareholder, exercise your right as a shareholder and VOTE!
I did 👍🏻
why is the vote of the board already filled in, when the more logical choice is the opposite?
@@rurakker
"Logical" if you want a run on the stock, followed by a hostile Board coup attempt, followed by a "change in direction" by those who "know better" and would still blame Elon when their "Big Brains" screw up, followed by decline, followed by Piecemeal uncoordinated breakup of the various groups...... Probably funded by those who currently feel threatened by the systemic transition... But who would recoup that "investment over the coming years as the increase the price of the commodities which would regain market share and which they control
(IF you think "logically" you know who THEY are...?)
Does that sound "logical"?
.
And if you're an "investor" caught in the middle of that? Good luck.
I am voting no on his new package he's to distracted and on drugs... and making rash decisions and stealing AI for xAi sooo he's doing the same as Twitter.
@@pandaleaves5220 so you vote disruptive to keep the board awake, awesome ! :)
Tesla had to build charging in order to sell cars. The government funds for charger build out are just starting to infuse money. If charging does not support AI and FSD, and robots, it's not in the direction of Tesla.
It’s about sales drop across the auto industry, revenue and the funding needed for “balls to the wall” for autonomy… simple, quote from Elon.
Balls to the wall? Going nowhere when a robo needs to charge 5 times as much.
While I COMPLETELY agree with Elon that “the best service is no service (needed)” … the problem is UNTIL Tesla gets there… they should continue to provide exceptional service. They cannot cut down on customer service staff to the point customers are so frustrated that they can’t reach anybody! THAT is the biggest gripe with most Tesla customers product experience. I used to make fun of Apple back in the day until one day I bought my first Apple Nano back in 2006 and experienced how incredibly exceptional their customer service was and that is what drew me to buy more Apple products since and to this day they continue to have terrific customer service.
This was the right decision; he understands how the world will look post-FSD. This kind of charging won't be relevant in a Robotaxi world; why would anyone waste their time waiting to charge? They will use automated charging stations and swap out.
As a fan still think they could of done it differently as many other customers cannot even get ahold of them. All the contacts are no longer there. Elon already mentioned they're going to be slowing down new supercharger insulation and some of their good locations are already getting change to other providers that did actually need more charging. Hopefully just in short-term.
Great discussion.
I don’t understand why people are criticizing a decision without knowing the actual impact this decision has or will have on the business (I am not talking about individual impact)
Thank you for this post. It is so true.
If you can't understand why this is different to all the other changes Tesla have made then you don't understand the importance of the charging network.
Even if Musk were to hire the 500 back and put them under a new director he could trust, the external partners will not work as willingly with Tesla. The external impacts and the inertia this will create will hold Tesla back and there is now nothing they can do to eliminate this inertia. It will take 5-10 years to get trust again with external partners.
Two things.
1. Other companies like BP will buy and deploy superchargers.
2. With robotaxi, Tesla will expand an inductiv charging network instead.
Seems to be the old delete a part and see if you can get away with it. If you can't, you put the part back in. Problem though. A part is not loyal or disloyal. It's a part. People do not have high allegiance to any entity that fires them and then says oops. Musk wants to do things way ahead of when they should occur. His sense of timing is terrible. Isaacson's description of the robotaxi is a good example. He wanted to build a steering wheel free car over 2 years ago. Senior people had to talk him out of doing that by saying that Tesla could get good money for an economy car. There are other examples. SC network isn't even close to mature. Thinking of it as a commodity is way too early.
I think the Supercharger team was doing a great job. Living in Southern California and how quickly Superchargers have been added is impressive. I now have 5 Supercharging locations within 9 miles. And over 10 Supercharging locations within 15.6 miles. Who can complain about that when there were only 3 supercharging locations within 13 miles three years ago. To me it has been a great achievement.
As a European living near Airbus HQ it's so good to hear how big European companies can't develop product effectively compared to us companies like boey
So much better than Boeing culture. Imagine what Elon would do at Boeing!
Tesla gave supercharging to the industry for free after building the network and proving it’s worth. Now it’s time for the industry to do its part to invest in the network. It should not be up to Tesla to carry that full load.
Robotaxis will benefit massively from induction charging if they can get practical charging speeds.
Found this on electrek: According to The Robot Report, Tesla’s acquisition of Wiferion was more of an “acqui-hiring” situation. The automaker kept Wiferion’s engineering team on board and sold its operations and manufacturing business to PULS.
So maybe with engineers from wiferions team, Tesla may have decided to pivot very quickly and build a manufacturing and deployment teams designed for that technology specifically.
This might make sense to line up with a upcoming robotaxi network. The bigger picture around robotaxis is that they will not only reduce the number of cars on the road but make personal transportation far cheaper - and may negate the need for people to even own cars - so if that’s the near future - then even the idea of selling/owning cars could be disrupted.
Tesla might disrupt themselves by creating robo taxis - so it would makes sense to really go all-in in terms of focusing on that.
[4:38] Because it was "Kind of a little too batshit crazy" 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
no, people that really are talented are switched to jobs in Tesla and the people who had no input in years and years of working, were let go.
What exactly did Tesla have to gain with these “partnerships”? Tesla is probably testing the waters to see how far behind the other charging infrastructure companies are and how dependent the other auto OEMs are on them.
I'm wondering if Elon doesn't want to install the old equipment if a 6 month gap will make it better to install the old equipment when the new new ones are 6 months out
Nope. It's about capital allocation.This is not the time to invest in support services. In a a downturn focus on core. Supercharger investment will not stop. In the next growth cycle there will be renewed acceleration in supercharger growth.
@@markthomas7279
Could add that after saying "We're IN!" Other companies almost immediately reversed course (I would add with little or no criticism?) leaving Tesla building chargers that wouldn't be used to their full potential.... maybe even their PROFITABLE level until either Tesla sold a lot more cars, or those companies returned.
Hence the X post "completing those under construction, updating old sites, filling gaps in the network"?
The amount of excitement despair gloom and doom fud what have you astonishes me! The supercharger network is a massive beast that's been built up over more than a , didn't just fall off the table and shatter it persists. Legacy auto through in the towel on growth so why grow the Network anymore I completely understand the move
The Art of War reference is spot on...Elon said as much..."I'm serious, wake the F up."
I’d much rather they pause network expansion until they can deliver full v4. Better use of time and capital considering sales are declining.
Farzad, yah but. Elon canned 75% at Twitter. He keep a core of dedicated, energetic, productive employees. Firing 100% of the SuC department is batshit crazy! The SuC department has lost ALL continuity. It will be difficult to rebuild. Goodwill will be lost with existing owners. New sales will be lost.
Nothings actually changed as a real world EV owner. Only thing that’s changed is a few hundred people less have a job working for Tesla
People think he is destroying the company but he’s actually saving it from stagnation.
Exactly. Plus it’s not Auto anymore, it’s in race to AGI, embodied.
Which is not just IQ, but $, and Microsoft has more $.
How is destroying their greatest asset saving the company from stagnation. Where are all the robotaxis going to charge? Who's going to set that up. Oh yea I forgot. The Robots are going to do that.
Will see. We cant sure about it yet
Bubye...
Would anyone like to take a stab at explaining how expanding EV infrastructure is equivalent to stagnation?
I believe Elon fired the team because the head of the team resisted his order to layoff. He just did it to proof a point. I also believe he will hire back some of them and reorganiz the business.
And just THINK how motivated the people he canned will be to flock back!
Agreed this is Elon being Elon. You saw it in Twitter. He probably always managed this way but it was not in the public eye in the early days of Tesla.
Prove what point? That random people will get fired if you don’t follow his orders?
@@singed8853 Specifically, the message was to other executives. He told them all to take the layoffs seriously. Help him cut the slack. If you don't, you are the slack and so is your whole team.
I don’t think people realize that many people fired have the opportunity to live themselves again
Thinking about what you need as a robotaxi operator, The Supercharger network just won't cut it. You need to charge and clean these cars and you need to to automate.
you think Tesla will consider battery swap
@@jporthodontics6928 Consider, yes. Do, not for passenger vehicles.
Still have lots of V2 charging locations in my area. The locations are fine, but it takes too long to charge with V2. Also, the locations are so far apart that there is extremely limited (none) flexibility for the system to reroute people to left busy chargers during times of high demand. This was a problem during the recent eclipse. There was one V2 station with 3/8 stalls down and a line that wrapped around the building, for several hours the line still wrapped around the building. 15, 18+ cars deep waiting for V2 cabinet sharing charging. It was bad. If that site also had 8 V3s (and where the heck are the V4s?) it would have been much better. The infrastructure is still far too sparse and anemic to be slowing down the number of stalls being built. I have had other road trips where I have had to reroute multiple times due to both lack of infrastructure where I wanted to drive and too many cars trying to recharge at the same time.
Hi. The SC network has always been intended for travelers since the start and free of charge. However, chaos theory points out the unexpected factor lurks around corners. As the Model 3 became “the” Tesla to have, Elon was obligated to not only install more units per location but many many more locations. A plan was formulated to have increased power/faster charging since the M3 battery’s technology is able. That means shorter time charging. Great. Chaos intervened, again, with the Y being even more successful! People in apartments, rental units, older homes charge locally and that’s what is happening in your area. As the price per kilowatt increases, I wonder how that will play as to sales of EVs. So far so good? Wait, there’s more. Without wondering why, the push to get the Tesla technology as the de facto charger, Tesla agreed to allow other brands to use its SC network. More chaos? Here it is. Only newer SC are compatible with other EVs as software and hardware updates are needed. IF there is a team needed to make all this happen, it’s the team Elon just fired. You get the picture?
According to California Surfers, “Dude, if you get that wave 🌊, you go for it!”😎
I really love their supercharging decision. As they will expand existing charging networks and reducing capex tremendously . So much easier and cheaper to add 10 chargers to an existing cha ging location compared to making a new charging location with 10 superchargers.
This is true. There are plenty of V2 locations out there that could add an equal number of V3 or V4 stalls. Even still, there are plenty of stretches of road that require more than a 100% charge to make it between charging sites. It’s fine to make existing sites better, but more sites are still required.
No, it doesn't work that way. See video by Kyle Out of Spec , TomM who knows WTF they are talking about re DC charging.
It costs almost as much as a new site, to expand or upgrade existing site (eg v2 to v3), replace transformers and upgrade grid connection, etc. Likely need new permitting/planning from utility, city etc as well... only time saved , is no siting decision/negotiation w/ real estate owner.
Expanding existing sites does not help those of us in charger deserts
@@notvaporlocked5479 yup, and expansion of existing sites still badly needed in crowded urban areas
I recently took my Model Y from Texas to Michigan and back and had to do somewhat of a zigzag pattern to hit all the superchargers which was not a problem because I was not in a rush. Most of those out of big city chargers were six packs and it was rare if I saw another Tesla Charging at the time I arrivedat each one. My opinion is we need more chargers in other locations throughout the more rural parts of the country in order to make cross country travel as efficient as possible. Adding to current superchargers is only necessary in certain locations which Tesla has the data on and that's fine. The larger need is to fill in the gaps in the middle of the country in between the big city centers.
Dismissing everyone in the team is a way for everyone to justify why they should be still in the charging team? It is emotionally difficult to dismiss a significant part of the team. So better for interested employees to reapply for a similar job again to see if they still qualify for key and more difficult work in the charging team?
Tesla also introduced the modular charging stations, which can go up a lot quicker than old fashion ones
The modular stations have been around for several years and are nothing new now. In addition the modular stations do not guarantee a rapid install. External factors can slow things down. I;ve seen a modular stations take over 455 days to complete from start of construction. Its 2 miles from my house.
Even more got laid off this Friday, as a recent previous employee as of Friday, a more quiet round of layoffs just took place
What factory were you working at?
This is very simple. The company is re allocating resources to were they are currently needed. EV growth is down and they are slowing supercharger growth based on the usage data they are currently seeing.
Incorrect.
Cybercab doesn't have range anxiety. The current network is all that is needed to blow up the robotaxi. And that is where the super big money is.
@@MyPapagio If that were the case they would be done building out the charging network and they are NOT!
@@MyPapagioto make a call: Incorrect or Correct? we would have to zoom out and would have to know the strategy and goals that only Elon Musk and the Board of Directors know.
Elons gigantic pay package is more than enough to pay the supercharger team! This was a public execution of a lady who did not give him a list to fire 20% of her dept! For spite he fired the whole dept!
I typically trust that Elon doesn't do things without a specific purpose in mind but perception-wise the single biggest anxiety people have about switching to EVs is charging and range. This move isn't helping that public perception.
I have a feeling if Elon cared about public perception, he never would have started Tesla and SpaceX and all is other companies.
If he has the reason why do not comunicate to us? Until today the problem was tesla has to much cash. That is why share holder wants buyback. I think the problem is we lost the path to see how can grow the profit and the prod volume .
@@mrbickity Doesn't mean it won't impact sales negatively though. He can not care about public perception, but certain concerns will diminish demand or tarnish a brand.
@@tonyvelasco5732 I might even agree with you. I have invested with Tesla for over 10 years and this is something you need to stomach or don't invest in him. It sucks but he is the man with the vision and we are not.
@@raczjanesz74 For better or worse, no communication has been one of Elon's personality traits from the beginning.
You are a phenomenal communicator Farzad ⛳️
I don't think it's that big of a deal in terms of selling cars. He said he will focus on improving current chargers, just not expanding. The current charging infrastructure that Tesla has is perfectly fine, they have been building them over the last 15 years. When I drive long distance, there are always chargers readily available. So what's the problem?
The employees let go are very valuable for the OEMs to hire
Maybe Tinuchi was pushing back on Elon and was protecting her team and Elon didn't enjoy that so much and whacked the whole team.
from an inside source (Exec level) - she argued with Elon about layoffs, and so she along w/ all under her had to go. with Elon, you can argue about engineering, processes, etc, but when it comes to personnel, no argument will be tolerated. Elon has been known to let very talented ppl go. right, wrong or indifferent.
Have you noticed how few people are left in the leadership team at Tesla? Tom Zhu, Vaibhav Taneja, and a part-time CEO. That’s it.
We are starting to get the scent of Musk’s leadership: it stinks.
The message seems to be that if as a manager you put love of your team before the needs of the company you will lose. You will go and your team will be spanked.
@@LL-tc1pn she (Italian personality like his advertising guru? wonder what she thinks...) Tinuchi may have been hard to deal with, Elon would have reciprocated, not compromised ... 500 souls seen as a potential managerial challenge, preference to clean house even if it will not be easy.
@@michaelcalmeyerhentschel8304 Unfortunately, she was a great talent but chose to pick the wrong battle. Like I was told, Elon will tolerate being challenged in engineering, and other areas but not on personnel. she defied him and had to go. He was absent for the good part of last 2 years, and came back in time to clean house. I was told that he was losing patience with Baglino and has been unhappy with him for a while. Allowing him to resign, was very generous of Elon is how some close to the matter are seeing it. However, it signaled that Elon is back and very much in the house. Him coming back is a much needed change.
This sounds like a cost-cutting move, because of economy, or competition? Whatever reason may be, Elon sounds determined to cut work force/costs. The comment on slower growth of superchargers fits in with cost-cutting, the outlay for infrastructure before income generation is huge in starting a new supercharger site. I would expect it to be a temporary situation, but I think it was poorly carried out, with no guidance to partners in current projects.
No. It's exactly what he said. It's refocussing on core and growth. In such times support service growth must be delayed toll cashflow growth returns. Probably 18 months or so. Good decision!!
Layoff sucks; I've been thru 4 of them in a 35 yr IT career. However, Lord Elon's apparent approach is this layoff is inhumane.
Let Elon does his job! He knows best. He is leading the company to trillions $$
My son just bought a Y, picks it up 5-6-24 😮
One of the biggest objections people have had to changing over to EV's is anxiety range.
Unless there's some surprise he is keeping up his sleeve, this move seems to be something that is not going to encourage sales.
Why should Tesla carry the cost of building out the supercharger network from here?
Seems an obvious question nobody is asking, much less answering.
Exactly, especially when nobody else is selling EVs at any meaningful levels..it's not their job to build out network for others when demand isn't there. They will do so when they see the need for it from their fleet data, slowly but purposefully.
How about because the government gave the money specifically to do that?
@@ChanningChea
The Government "Gives" out money AFTER the build, NOT before.
Now, that being the case, MAYBE some of those car companies should request that THEY build "own brand" chargers, with "Tesla inside", Then take the Government Money? (Maybe saving a bailout later?)
.
You know why they "may not" do that?
Because
1) Having reversed THEIR plans, they wouldn't make enough money from the charging revenue at the moment for it to be worthwhile.
and
2) THEY would have to start building EVs again...... But THEY can't make money on EVs.
.
Do you think I MIGHT be close?
@@ChanningChea They only got 17mil from the infrastructure grant. Tell me how much they can actually build with that? Just the annual salaries for 500 people is more than that.
Understood. But the whole point of Tesla building the network in the first place was to enable vehicle sales. Other charging networks were and are a joke. Once customers can't trust Tesla to build and manage the network they will stop buying Tesla's. The future of TEsla has now been put in the hands of companies that have demonstrated they suck.
Your best video ever when it comes to understanding Elon, Tesla, and the difference between a Tim Cook organization and what an Elon Musk Tesla. Well done!
Why would anyone with talent want to work in an environment like that? The only people who will stay will work hard sure, but they wont be your star players.
Elon is one of the greatest entrepreneur of our era. He has done more to advance the cause of human civilization than any human being in our time. But Elon’s laying off the entire supercharger group strikes me to be a callous, ruthless move. This was no Twitter cleaning house of deadwood underperforming employees. This was laying off 500 Tesla employees to be made an example of for the rest of the company. Knowing the Tesla culture means that many of the 500 workers were dedicated, hardworking employees that didn’t deserve to be eliminated because their leaders were too slow to downsize. IMO this action will not age well. The Tesla supercharging network is a key element in the success of advancing renewable energy. Now there is nothing but uncertainty.
Not over era but he his greatest of All time.
Robo taxibwill mean many manymore superchargers required. I think they will be redesigned to be cheaper and faster to deploy. This is a small pause not a stop
They are not going to be using the supercharging network to charge the robotaxis. Tesla is going to need robotaxi service centers in each city, where they will be cleaned, charged, and maintenanced.
Elon hasn't made any mistake!
It's a perfectly sensible management decision!
Tesla was forced to do internally the whole planning and installation of the chargers, because nobody else could 10 years ago.
But now, things have changed, plenty of local companies now can do it much more efficiently than a centralized team. They can therefore subcontract permitting, digging dirt, laying cables and pouring concrete to third parties, and concentrate on their core strengths, i.e. building the chargers proper, improving the software, and managing the system.
You might have a point if Tesla hadn't been installing chargers in "2 weeks" at as low as 20% of the average cost.
That does smack of "efficiency"....?
All the digging dirt, laying cables and pouring concrete was subcontracted to third parties. The 500 people fired were not construction workers. This was a stupid management decision. Elon got pushback from Rebecca Tinucci about fireing staff so he threw a temper tantrum like a big baby and fired everyone. If Elon had instead said he was doubling the size of the supercharger system instead of fireing everyone I'm abosolutely positive that you would have said that was a sensible decision. Your opinion has no basis in fact but is simply blindly agreeing with anything Elon does. You need to start thinking for yourself.
@@arseliopereira2541
That's a lot of *assumption*
@@rogerstarkey5390 What's a lot of assumption? As far as the temper tantrum I've heard it from various sources and it's consistant with his past behaviour. As far as @st-ex8506 just blindly agreeing with anything Elon does I really doubt before any of this happened that he was advocatig for Elon to fire all of them and stop the growth of the Supercharger Network. I'd bet a lot of money that he beleived the exact opposite.
@@arseliopereira2541 How come people like you always know so much better than those who have all the facts in their hands?
Fact is that Elon has been masterfully implementing his strategies so far, for both Tesla and SpaceX, leaving all Tesla's competitors in the dirt, save maybe BYD!
Do I trust Elon's business judgement? Of course I do. And, as a former executive in venture financing (now retired), I believe I am pretty good at making myself my own opinion... I was paid to do so, thanks for your concern! His vision and implementation skills have, since my first investment in TSLA back in March 2013, multiplied my wealth about 10 times. He delivered well above what I ever hoped he would! There is no denying facts, especially not when motivated by hate!
Can I be critical of Elon also? Of course I can, and I am... of his Twitter/X acquisition, for instance!
Aside the reasoning for firing the team...this isn't a positive for their ability to attract top talent. It'd withold me from joining their organization, knowing they can cut massively, regardless of individual performance
Did you two said don’t bet on Elon? Superchargers that was Elon pissed off with legacy automakers going hybrid and slowing EV production
Just voted my shares just before groking this. Leave it to Farzad to understand and take this start-up culture in stride. "Culture" has "Cult" embedded. He's read Sun Tsu and of course internalized it. If he had to send a signal, the shock might be more containable/transitionable here for the moment. I personally thought charging would remain a BIG contributor to profitability and quality experience/reputation that no one else in EV presently has, so I get nervous. But I guess I should have faith. Yet again.
Robotaxis will need to use inductive charging, so charging stations are going to look dffierent, and so will be the process of installing them. I'm sure many people have pointed this out. I very much enjoy your channel, but I didn't have 1:15:14 so check if you said it too!
The biggest TH-camr's selling point of Tesla is their Supercharger network. Tesla still needs to expand it the same reason they started it. The robo Taxi still needs it even if it may be wireless. As customers, we still need it to expand 4X here in Australia 🇦🇺. 😢
These discussions are so on point. You guys really understand. Long term Tesla can’t be extrapolated from what happens yesterday or today. You have to understand Elon to predict the future.
I can see him offloading the supercharger management planning etc to someone else and just concentrating on designing the chargers, maybe building them and licensing it out or franchising.
I think this move is similar to the reason why they are not building new factories; they have the capacity to build more with what they have especially since car sales are impacted by high interest rates. It could be that they want to scale back their spending on building out the network since there will be an over capacity of chargers and under utilization of any newly built charging stations (especially since all other car manufacturers are scaling their production). And if they are not building new charging locations, then the capital expenditure on that team will not make sense for this current economic climate, hence the layoffs. I can see them potentially rebuilding that team again once interest rates go down, but by that time, it could be that Robotaxi matures and those chargers might not be as relevant since Robotaxis will have their own wirelessly charging depots as opposed to requiring charging stations for humans drivers.
At the beginning the question was” how do we make fast charging available “ now the question is how do we make charging available ubiquitous ly “ it is not extending our supercharger network! Ubiquitous is every street etc
It’s impressive how many people are totally misunderstanding this move! Tesla Superchargers are way ahead of the competition in all dimensions; availability, reliability, speed, etc. Elon & Co have all the realtime demand/usage data. 📊 they know _exactly_ how much the chargers are being used and where more are required. The network is already superb and everyone is using it without any issues. So why cut so many people from the team? Simple: They can in the short term without affecting service level because they have such a huge lead and great systems. It’s like when Barcelona Sold Lionel Messi, they no longer needed him to keep winning! The moment Tesla sees the need for more chargers they can get them online fast! Elon is reallocating resources ahead of a potential recession. IF anything we will look back on this move as prescient and proactive financial prudence.
yep
And to add...a year ago every car company was giving aggressive numbers for their potential ev sales. Now we know they are mostly duds. So that expected demand is just not there.
Barcelona hasn't won anything substantial without Messi 😒
@@anotheryoutubechannel4809
"Every car company giving aggressive numbers"
Bingo!
@@belgiumhr3524
Better analogy would be Real without Ronaldo and Benzema lol.
There is a supercharger factory in China. All gas station make minimal profit, they only attract customer to buy other stuff at there stops. It is a lot of charging station to maintain . Better to let this be handled but petro company. ( like replacing coal peaker plant by battery storage)
Remember BP bought out a bunch of superchargers and will grow the infrastructure further. Tesla needs to focus on FSD.
Tesla needs to focus on customer commitments and obligations. FSD is funded by car sales and the supercharger network is a solid reason why people buy Tesla. If where I live Tesla pulls the plug on building out the promised network I'll exit the brand as many other choices exist. Sayonara Elon Musk.
Honestly I don't think expanding the supercharger network is necessary. You only really need it on interstates for long drives but most people charge their cars either at home or work because it's much cheaper.
It is needed, less so for roadtrips except some missing areas... Are you near major urban areas, where folks don't have home charging? many of them are FULL much of the time (SF, LA, etc). Other countries (Australia) still need a lot of buildout for their just-now-starting sales growth.. and now lots of projects just got cancelled/up in smoke.
And everyone else who doesn’t have a house, get a gas car I guess.
To fit the company culture is more important than talent.
in short too many people think they know better than Elon does to run TESLA. ELON HAS MY VOTE 100%
From what I've heard about normal businesses is that not only does it take a long time to make a change. But if the change then turns out to be bad, it takes even longer to fix. Because they'd have to admit that the thing that took so long and cost so much to get done was a mistake, and admitting you made a mistake is just not done.
The optimum number and location of chargers for CyberCab is clearly different to that for privately owned EVs.
The culture was pretty toxic when I quit a few weeks before this.... management was not improving fast enough and was holding back the extremely talented workers. Having a culture that requires that things be screwed up all the time to give the illusion that progress was happening is just plain dumb. Screwing up things that other companies have been doing successfully for years because you refuse to have any process or procedure is not the fastest way to make progress. Focus should be on solving actual issues, not all the day to day screw ups that are completely avoidable. Was really sad to see brute force as the only option and never efficient engineering day after day.
"Everyone is replaceable", thats's the statement he backs up with action. Every 5 years he prunes his human component. Then, as in nature ...growth happens 😮
as we are getting higher density battles and shorter charging time there is less need for more charging station. definitely there is no need for speed of growing
How this affects me? I will keep my ICE Chevy impala for road trips. I will continue to drive my Ioniq 6 for commuting to work and back (30 miles a day). I'm undecided if I will continue showing my Ioniq 6 at local Cars and Coffees because there is no reliable charging infrastructure for road trips. I am still committed to EVs as a local use case especially if you have a home charger.
V4 are not branded, so others can start building new sites with the V4's. Robotaxi's will need different charging infra, probably wireless
If the Supercharger network does not keep growing, I’m going back to gasoline. I just have no choice.
so how did you charge your car now?
@@meggi8048 I charge at home and am great on most long trips I do. But there are a couple destinations with no way to charge above a 110 line without driving 80+ minutes one way to a supercharger every couple days. My optimism has relied on the assumption that Tesla would eventually get around to closer stations. I assumed I would never buy anything but a Tesla again. I’m back to gas for the next one if it isn’t solved by then.
Working for Tesla must be tiresome.
1:35 hopefully another company seize the layoffs as an opportunity. Rivian etc now has their pick at the top talent in public EV charging. It's an opportunity for them to make a big push with their own charging network
This action by Elon is the action of a tyrant out of control and gives a lot of good people reason to believe well maybe this is the good reason to have a union!!!... something to seriously think about!
also, building supercharger locations is Capex intensive and I seriously doubt they are cashflow positive. Opex is easily a couple mill a year to the site host. And you sell something that, averages, what?, 34 cents a unit.
They are on record that they save Capex by building the next model on an existing lines even if the cost per car is higher.
If I'm a talented engineer, I will only work at Tesla for a 5x than normal compensation, why would I give my all if I am going to be axed at any time.
Elon also says "have more children" but creates the most unstable work environment where parents are probably going to struggle.
CNBC headline: "Musk destroys Tesla's last MOAT."
Shotwell said it best in a SpaceX interview sometime way back: ”I was always frustrated with Elon, until I realized his job IS to keep us uncomfortable.” 😊
I think its right to build more in the places which are already busy, I would think most people day to day will charge at home only using the super charges when on a trip
I believe that Elon is sending a message that staff need to stay profitable and keep the focus for up coming changes. Also to not get sidelined with any union intervention or they will find that there will be more severe change.
This is one of the most profound dialogs on Tesla and Elon and as an investor I certainly appreciate you and Hans immensely. Thank you.
On another thought - it strikes me that Tesla is going to need a huge logistical implementation for SC's for both the the Semi and Gen 2 to become a reality. 50,000 to 100,000 Semi's on the road by 2027! Where are they going to fuel? I'm thinking travel centers such as Pilot and Loves are the 3rd party experts in logistics, regulatory networks, POS needs etc. Tesla makes plug and play units then delivers. They do the rest and take the heat for any dropped balls.
A Tim Cook apple is dead. When a Company Starts buying back it`s own shares they have no plan for the future.
Thats his style. He let go most of twitter, then re-hired some of the layed off people when things broke. X worked out beautifully. This is how you stay lean and efficient.
Enjoy your insight on Tesla as a Company not a car company.
It’s so funny watching all of these people that think they know more about resource allocation and running multi billion dollar companies than Elon Musk. One of the greatest, if not the greatest entrepreneur world has ever seen.
....but I also think that Elon needs Larry back. I think Larry had a way with Elon that nobody else has, not even Kimbal. But I dont think yall read my post anyways, but I still respect everyone of yall.
Tesla will be going to inductive charging, so they don’t want to throw $$$$ at their Gen1 (cable charging).
I was actually thinking that as well it seems as if they have insight that isn't publicly known yet like possibly a battery step change in capacity so superchargers will be needed less because a car will get 600+ miles or range or something like that...
This is an excellent conversation between you two. Very interesting.
Yes the other car companies have jumped on board the Tesla supercharging network, but haven't they also just scaled back their commitment to EVs?
There seems to be a backlash of sorts towards EVs happening now, across the board. Is this some sort of powerplay trying to get Tesla to spend huge sums of money?
Now I know why owners couldn’t get cars repaired quickly in 2018! It was Farzad breaking things😂😂😂
was this affected by the availability or pricing of transformers. Also possible that this unit was the source of too many leaks. Bottom line. Anyone can be replaced.
Elon can be replaced.