Tesla fires Supercharger and new car development teams – report
Faced with falling sales and profit, Tesla is taking the axe to its headcount, with the latest casualties reportedly being its Supercharger fast charging network and new vehicle development teams.
The Information understands Tesla has fired Rebecca Tinucci, head of the Supercharger division, and will also retrench the roughly 500 people who directly or indirectly report to her.
Ms Tinucci has been with Tesla 2018, and was put in charge of the Supercharger network in 2020. Before joining Tesla she was the founder and CEO of Evatran, a company specialising in wireless inductive charging for cars.
Daniel Ho, head of new vehicle development, is also being retrenched, as well as his entire team. The Information hasn’t been able to ascertain how many people work in Mr Ho’s team.
Mr Ho worked for over 12 years at Ford Australia, and began at Tesla in 2013. He was the program manager for the Model S, Model 3 and Model Y prior to being made director of vehicle programs new vehicle introductions.
Tesla Model 3 facelift
According to The Information Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent an email to the company stating: “Hopefully these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction.
“While some on exec staff are taking this seriously, most are not yet doing so.
“Starting at 10 AM EST on Tuesday, I will ask for the resignation of any executive who retains more than three people who don’t obviously pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test… I have been super clear about this.”
Later in the email, Mr Musk said Tesla would add to the Supercharger network where critical, as well as complete new stations currently under construction.
It’s widely believed the Supercharger network, especially in the US, has been a critical part of the company’s success. The Supercharger system has better satisfaction ratings, with rivals often suffering from charger failures and poor reporting of faulty units.
Tesla’s lead in this area has seen virtually of all its competitors in the US adopt its charging plug in order to gain access to the Supercharger network.
Tesla Roadster concept
These job cuts follow a previous round earlier this month where 15,000 people, or roughly 10 per cent of its global workforce were retrenched.
During this earlier purge Tesla got rid of Drew Baglino, the company’s head of powertrain and energy, and Rohan Patel, the automaker’s policy chairperson.
It’s understood today’s firings also extend to the policy team that previously worked under Mr Patel.
This year has been a bumpy one for Tesla with the company reporting it made 433,371 vehicles in the first quarter, but only delivering 386,810, its lowest figure since 2022.
Tesla also had halt sales of much-hyped Cybertruck due to an unintended acceleration issue before recalling all 3878 cars for a temporary fix.
The automaker has also refuted claims it has cancelled plans to develop a cheaper model with a starting price of US$25,000 ($38,500). It is now supposedly going all in on a robotaxi, which will be unveiled on August 8.