AUSTIN, TX – Elon Musk, never a stranger to controversy, shocked the automotive industry late last week when he abruptly fired Tesla’s head of electric vehicle (EV) charging, Rebecca Tinucci, along with her entire 500-person team. In an email announcing the news, the Tesla CEO revealed that the rollout of the automaker’s Supercharger network growth plans is going to be curtailed as a result, which is bad news for a nation still struggling with an insufficient EV charging infrastructure.
Musk’s email would go on to confirm that Tesla would continue building Supercharger stations that are already under construction, but failed to state how the firing of his entire charging team would impact plans to expand the network.
However, later Musk would confirm plans to advance Tesla’s national charging infrastructure are indeed being pulled back, noting on X – formerly Twitter – that “Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100 percent uptime and expansion of existing locations.”
Reports indicate that Musk’s move has already had a direct impact on current charging projects, with Tesla just this week pulling out of leases for four upcoming New York-based Supercharger stations: one in South Bronx, two in Queens, and one in Brooklyn.
This comes as a major blow, as these stations were originally intended to address serious overcrowding issues plaguing Supercharger stations in those areas, with many vehicles being forced to endure long wait times to access a charger.
Much of the congestion at the existing Supercharger stations in New York can be attributed to a large increase in Uber drivers using Tesla vehicles in response to new financial incentives offered by New York City to encourage the ride-sharing company to “go green” and electrify their fleet.
Currently, Tesla operates 57,579 Superchargers at 6,249 locations around the world.
Christopher Boyle is an investigative journalist, videographer, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Christopher works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.