The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

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The inside story of Elon Musk’s mass firings of Tesla Supercharger staff

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/inside-story-elon-musks-mass-firings-tesla-supercharger-staff-2024-05-15/

As recently as last month, Tesla said in a securities filing that it needed to expand charging to “ensure adequate availability” for customers, particularly after automakers including Ford General Motors (GM.N) and Hyundai announced they would start making their cars compatible with Tesla’s charging plugs, giving their vehicles Supercharger access.

Another former employee said that rollout is “completely jeopardized” because there will not be enough new charging sites coming online, and the company was only starting to implement upgrades to allow more compatibility with other manufacturers’ vehicles.

Three of the former employees called the firings a major setback to U.S. charging expansion because of the relationships Tesla employees had built with suppliers and electric utilities. Tesla had grown into one of the larger customers for many major utilities around the country, and many had hired new staff and planned new infrastructure based on Tesla’s charging-network expansion plans, the former employees said.

Other companies may be able to fill the gap, the former employees said, but the goodwill built over time with utilities and other contractors from Tesla’s large-scale charging investments will be difficult to replicate.

“It’s just unfortunate that now they’re stuck holding the bag on all these different projects,” one of the former employees said. “It’s really sad to see all these relationships burned and people be really angry - rightfully so."