Tesla
is set to embark on an extensive expansion of its Supercharger network, with an investment exceeding $500 million slated for this year. This initiative comes in the wake of a significant restructuring that saw the entire charging team, led by Rebecca Tinucci, and approximately 500 employees, being let go.
The sweeping changes within the Supercharger team have raised questions about Tesla’s future charging station deployments. The restructuring led to Tesla withdrawing from leases on planned Supercharger stations, causing confusion among its partners and stakeholders.
Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over $500M expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year.
That’s just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2024
Despite these challenges, CEO Elon Musk reiterated the company’s commitment to expanding the Supercharger network. Musk emphasized that while there will be a slowdown in deployment, the focus will be on augmenting existing stations.
Although Tesla has not disclosed the exact cost of deploying Superchargers, estimates suggest it ranges from $45,000 to $50,000 per charger. The $500 million investment for this year indicates a deployment rate similar to that of Q1, which was the last quarter with a full Supercharger team.
The decision to dismiss the charging team reportedly came after disagreements over the extent of layoffs. When Tinucci resisted Musk’s directives, he swiftly terminated her and the entire team. Musk further reinforced his stance by sending an email to other executives warning them of similar consequences if they did not comply with his directives.
