Yes, consistently based in reality.
Tesla 2024
- Thread starter VicBee
- Start date
Your bubble?
No, that would be you.
Fan-"Boy in a bubble". At least you had John Travolta play you when young.
Let's honor the individual who posted the above less than 24 hours ago. It is a genius of his.
Bots really got to fine tune their humor code more.
This is a smart move, since they already have the customers' money.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/musk-disbands-tesla-ev-charging-202301433.html
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/musk-disbands-tesla-ev-charging-202301433.html
timestamped:Musk disbands Tesla EV charging team, leaving customers in the dark
Joseph White
Updated Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 7:25 PM CDT4 min read
In This Article:
By Joseph White, Akash Sriram and Nora Eckert
DETROIT (Reuters) -Elon Musk's abrupt decision to lay off employees who ran Tesla's electric vehicle charging business blindsided automakers gearing up to equip new EVs for customers to use the Tesla Supercharger network, industry officials and analysts said on Tuesday.
For now, General Motors, Ford and other automakers which struck deals last year to give customers access to the network said they are not changing their plans.
Tesla's decision to open its network to rival EV manufacturers was hailed by U.S. President Joe Biden, and opened the door for Tesla to get federal subsidies to expand the reach of its North American Charging Standard (NACS) system.
Musk's decision to dismiss the head of the business, Rebecca Tinucci, and most or all of the staff that operated and maintained the system, according to two former employees and multiple postings on LinkedIn, left officials at automakers and Tesla suppliers uncertain about the future.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
Musk subsequently said on X that the carmaker still plans to expand the Supercharger network, "just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations."
Andres Pinter, co-CEO of Bullet EV Charging Solutions, a supplier to the network, said, "As contractors for the Supercharger network, my team woke up to a sharp kick in the pants this morning."
"Tesla has already been awarded money under the federal government's NEVI program," he said, referring to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program to provide funding to states to deploy EV charging networks.
"There's no way Mr. Musk would walk away from effectively free money. It may be possible Mr. Musk will reconstitute the EV charger team in bigger, badder, more Muskian way."
GM and Ford, in separate statements, said they are not changing plans to equip their EVs with connectors that will allow drivers of Chevrolet, Cadillac or Ford brand EVs to recharge at Tesla stations.
"We have nothing new to announce regarding our plans," GM said. "We are continuing to monitor the situation regarding changes to the Supercharger team and the potential impacts with no further comments or updates at this time."
SANTA MONICA, CA - APRIL 17, 2024 - A man stands next to a row of Tesla charging towers at a Tesla Supercharger station at the corner of 14th St. and Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica on April 17, 2024. Tesla Inc. is laying off more than 10% of its workforce, Chief Executive Elon Musk wrote in an email to staff. Musk cited job overlap and the need to reduce costs, according to the email sent last Sunday. Bloomberg News estimated that the layoffs would affect more than 14,000 employees. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Genaro Molina via Getty Images)
'NOTHING IS OFF THE TABLE'
Some industry executives and analysts said Musk could have disbanded the existing Supercharger organization to build a leaner and less expensive team to run the operations.
However, Musk made clear in a call with analysts earlier this month that he is focused on opportunities in artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous robotaxis.
"In this layoff, nothing is off the table," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said. "Musk is trying to send a signal internally that the difficulty that Tesla is going through, they're going to have to make tough decisions. ... It shows there is serious cost focus."
Tesla last week reported lower first-quarter profits and its first quarterly revenue decline since 2021. Even after a surge over the past week, Tesla shares are down 22% for the year.
With sales of Tesla's EVs falling and profit margins under increasing pressure, Musk could be cutting Supercharger network spending to conserve cash for other projects with more growth potential, analysts said.
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"Tesla is looking to right size its (capital spending) and operating expenses over the next couple of years as the company is in a slower growth phase," Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said.
More traditional automakers might hang on to a business that promised steady revenue and near-continuous data exchanges with customers, analysts said. But Musk could take a Silicon Valley entrepreneur's view that charging is a legacy business that could be streamlined or even divested.
"My guess is that now that the industry has adopted the NACS standard, he views Supercharging less as a strategic moat and more as a cost center," said KC Boyce, a vice president at data analytics firm Escalent.
The Tesla Supercharger network could have significant value if Musk wanted to sell it, analysts said. Rival U.S. charging networks have struggled with reliability problems and do not have the scale or prime locations Tesla has locked in.
Seven large automakers, including Mercedes, GM, Stellantis, Honda, BMW and Hyundai-Kia last year formed a joint venture called Ionna to develop a fast-charging network to compete with the Tesla Supercharger network.
Cuts to Tesla’s Supercharger team
Tesla is laying off most of its Supercharger team, in a move that confounded experts and could hinder its dominance over the global electric vehicle charging network. CEO Elon Musk’s “absolutely hardcore” approach to Tesla staffing also saw recent layoffs affecting 10% of its global workforce. Superchargers — which charge EVs far faster than typical systems — are the company’s “star asset,” experts said; Tesla leads in their development, and drivers of rival companies can use them. A recent analysis estimated that Tesla could generate $740 million in annual profit from global public-charging revenue by 2030, so “it makes absolutely no sense to lay off the Supercharger team,” EV news site Elektrek wrote.
Tesla is laying off most of its Supercharger team, in a move that confounded experts and could hinder its dominance over the global electric vehicle charging network. CEO Elon Musk’s “absolutely hardcore” approach to Tesla staffing also saw recent layoffs affecting 10% of its global workforce. Superchargers — which charge EVs far faster than typical systems — are the company’s “star asset,” experts said; Tesla leads in their development, and drivers of rival companies can use them. A recent analysis estimated that Tesla could generate $740 million in annual profit from global public-charging revenue by 2030, so “it makes absolutely no sense to lay off the Supercharger team,” EV news site Elektrek wrote.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/analysis-teslas-restructuring-hits-executive-174117262.html
Analysis-Tesla's restructuring hits executive bench hailed by Elon Musk
Tesla managers demonstrate V3 superchargers on German research campus in Berlin·Reuters
Joseph White, Aditya Soni and Kevin Krolicki
Wed, May 1, 2024, 1:41 PM EDT 5 min read
In This Article:
By Joseph White, Aditya Soni and Kevin Krolicki
(Reuters) - Just over a year ago, Elon Musk shared the stage at Tesla's investor day in Texas with 16 executives who gave detailed presentations on the company's technology and growth plans, then lined up behind their boss in a show of solidarity.
"We've obviously got significant bench strength here," Musk said at the time, responding to investor concerns that the world's most valuable automaker was too much a one-man show.
Now, at least five members of that team are gone, a Reuters analysis shows. Tesla, Musk and the 16 executives on the stage last year could not be reached for comment.
Musk in a recent email to senior managers outlined plans to lay off hundreds more employees, including two top executives, the Information reported.
"Hopefully these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction," Musk wrote in the email, the report said.
Two senior executives who flanked Musk on investor day last year are gone: Zach Kirkhorn, former CFO, resigned with a nondisclosure agreement, according to Tesla regulatory filings. Drew Baglino, Tesla's former chief battery engineer, left in the wave of layoffs Musk ordered last month. Baglino dumped $181 million in Tesla stock as he left.
Rebecca Tinucci, who headed up Tesla's charging team, was one of two women on stage for the investor day last March.
"We have understood since Day One that a great charging experience is the linchpin to electric vehicle adoption," Tinucci said as she walked onstage. In the subsequent year, nearly all rival automakers in the United States agreed to adopt Tesla's charging standards and cut deals to let their EV buyers charge at Tesla stations.
Tinucci and much of her team were sacked this week. In a posting on his social media platform X, Musk said Tesla plans "to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations."
Another executive on the stage who left was Colin Campbell, the former vice president of powertrain engineering.
The loss of so many executives is something the Tesla board should be monitoring, said Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.
"Lots of departures very quickly suggest a problematic leadership style," he said. "You shouldn't lose that many people that quickly."
STRATEGY SHIFTS
With Tesla's revenue, profit and share price falling, Musk has reasserted his dominance at the company. For some investors, that is more important than the executive churn.
"Elon's not there and we have this turnover? That's very bad," said Gene Munster, managing partner with Deepwater Asset Management and a Tesla investor. "If Elon's there, he's going to draw on talent to keep things going so it really all comes down to Elon remaining a part of the story."
Musk has signaled significant strategy shifts in response to falling sales and tougher competition - changes that could leave out executives running operations no longer central to the new plans.
Tesla's future lies in artificial intelligence and robotaxis, not conventional auto manufacturing, Musk told investors in April.
Musk is putting action behind those words. He has ordered a 10% cut in staff and scrapped plans for a new, low-cost line of vehicles in favor of revamping existing models to develop lower-priced entries. Tesla said it will pause construction of new factories until the company's sales had reached 3 million vehicles a year - enough to fill up the automaker's existing production operations.
"If you buy the narrative that Tesla is an AI company fundamentally, it may not be cause for concern," said K.C. Boyce, vice president at data analytics and advisory firm Escalent. "It fits into the idea of sizing and resourcing the business correctly to deliver on the promise of full self-driving and robotaxi."
Other senior Tesla executives, who were not among those onstage during the 2023 investor day, have left in recent weeks.
Daniel Ho, a former Ford executive and 10-year Tesla veteran who had been director of new car programs, is no longer with the company. Rohan Patel, a former Obama administration official who had been Tesla VP for public policy and key to expansion plans for India, said he is leaving.
Another executive to exit was Allie Arebalo, Tesla's senior director of human resources, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Martin Viecha, head of investor relations who also was on the stage last year with Musk, announced his departure at the end of an April 24 conference call with analysts.
Unlike most of the other departed executives, Viecha received a warm sendoff from Musk. "The reason I reached out to you was because I thought your analysis of Tesla was the best that I had seen," Musk said on the call.
Some analysts said the executive team is critical given the challenges faced by the EV maker.
"Having a strong bench behind Musk is important at this pivotal time given the Category 5 storm that Tesla's going through," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said.
More like had a strong bench!
Analysis-Tesla's restructuring hits executive bench hailed by Elon Musk
Tesla managers demonstrate V3 superchargers on German research campus in Berlin·Reuters
Joseph White, Aditya Soni and Kevin Krolicki
Wed, May 1, 2024, 1:41 PM EDT 5 min read
In This Article:
By Joseph White, Aditya Soni and Kevin Krolicki
(Reuters) - Just over a year ago, Elon Musk shared the stage at Tesla's investor day in Texas with 16 executives who gave detailed presentations on the company's technology and growth plans, then lined up behind their boss in a show of solidarity.
"We've obviously got significant bench strength here," Musk said at the time, responding to investor concerns that the world's most valuable automaker was too much a one-man show.
Now, at least five members of that team are gone, a Reuters analysis shows. Tesla, Musk and the 16 executives on the stage last year could not be reached for comment.
Musk in a recent email to senior managers outlined plans to lay off hundreds more employees, including two top executives, the Information reported.
"Hopefully these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction," Musk wrote in the email, the report said.
Two senior executives who flanked Musk on investor day last year are gone: Zach Kirkhorn, former CFO, resigned with a nondisclosure agreement, according to Tesla regulatory filings. Drew Baglino, Tesla's former chief battery engineer, left in the wave of layoffs Musk ordered last month. Baglino dumped $181 million in Tesla stock as he left.
Rebecca Tinucci, who headed up Tesla's charging team, was one of two women on stage for the investor day last March.
"We have understood since Day One that a great charging experience is the linchpin to electric vehicle adoption," Tinucci said as she walked onstage. In the subsequent year, nearly all rival automakers in the United States agreed to adopt Tesla's charging standards and cut deals to let their EV buyers charge at Tesla stations.
Tinucci and much of her team were sacked this week. In a posting on his social media platform X, Musk said Tesla plans "to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations."
Another executive on the stage who left was Colin Campbell, the former vice president of powertrain engineering.
The loss of so many executives is something the Tesla board should be monitoring, said Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.
"Lots of departures very quickly suggest a problematic leadership style," he said. "You shouldn't lose that many people that quickly."
STRATEGY SHIFTS
With Tesla's revenue, profit and share price falling, Musk has reasserted his dominance at the company. For some investors, that is more important than the executive churn.
"Elon's not there and we have this turnover? That's very bad," said Gene Munster, managing partner with Deepwater Asset Management and a Tesla investor. "If Elon's there, he's going to draw on talent to keep things going so it really all comes down to Elon remaining a part of the story."
Musk has signaled significant strategy shifts in response to falling sales and tougher competition - changes that could leave out executives running operations no longer central to the new plans.
Tesla's future lies in artificial intelligence and robotaxis, not conventional auto manufacturing, Musk told investors in April.
Musk is putting action behind those words. He has ordered a 10% cut in staff and scrapped plans for a new, low-cost line of vehicles in favor of revamping existing models to develop lower-priced entries. Tesla said it will pause construction of new factories until the company's sales had reached 3 million vehicles a year - enough to fill up the automaker's existing production operations.
"If you buy the narrative that Tesla is an AI company fundamentally, it may not be cause for concern," said K.C. Boyce, vice president at data analytics and advisory firm Escalent. "It fits into the idea of sizing and resourcing the business correctly to deliver on the promise of full self-driving and robotaxi."
Other senior Tesla executives, who were not among those onstage during the 2023 investor day, have left in recent weeks.
Daniel Ho, a former Ford executive and 10-year Tesla veteran who had been director of new car programs, is no longer with the company. Rohan Patel, a former Obama administration official who had been Tesla VP for public policy and key to expansion plans for India, said he is leaving.
Another executive to exit was Allie Arebalo, Tesla's senior director of human resources, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Martin Viecha, head of investor relations who also was on the stage last year with Musk, announced his departure at the end of an April 24 conference call with analysts.
Unlike most of the other departed executives, Viecha received a warm sendoff from Musk. "The reason I reached out to you was because I thought your analysis of Tesla was the best that I had seen," Musk said on the call.
Some analysts said the executive team is critical given the challenges faced by the EV maker.
"Having a strong bench behind Musk is important at this pivotal time given the Category 5 storm that Tesla's going through," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said.
More like had a strong bench!https://finance.yahoo.com/news/analysis-teslas-restructuring-hits-executive-174117262.html
Analysis-Tesla's restructuring hits executive bench hailed by Elon Musk
Tesla managers demonstrate V3 superchargers on German research campus in Berlin·Reuters
Joseph White, Aditya Soni and Kevin Krolicki
Wed, May 1, 2024, 1:41 PM EDT 5 min read
In This Article:
By Joseph White, Aditya Soni and Kevin Krolicki
(Reuters) - Just over a year ago, Elon Musk shared the stage at Tesla's investor day in Texas with 16 executives who gave detailed presentations on the company's technology and growth plans, then lined up behind their boss in a show of solidarity.
"We've obviously got significant bench strength here," Musk said at the time, responding to investor concerns that the world's most valuable automaker was too much a one-man show.
Now, at least five members of that team are gone, a Reuters analysis shows. Tesla, Musk and the 16 executives on the stage last year could not be reached for comment.
Musk in a recent email to senior managers outlined plans to lay off hundreds more employees, including two top executives, the Information reported.
"Hopefully these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction," Musk wrote in the email, the report said.
Two senior executives who flanked Musk on investor day last year are gone: Zach Kirkhorn, former CFO, resigned with a nondisclosure agreement, according to Tesla regulatory filings. Drew Baglino, Tesla's former chief battery engineer, left in the wave of layoffs Musk ordered last month. Baglino dumped $181 million in Tesla stock as he left.
Rebecca Tinucci, who headed up Tesla's charging team, was one of two women on stage for the investor day last March.
"We have understood since Day One that a great charging experience is the linchpin to electric vehicle adoption," Tinucci said as she walked onstage. In the subsequent year, nearly all rival automakers in the United States agreed to adopt Tesla's charging standards and cut deals to let their EV buyers charge at Tesla stations.
Tinucci and much of her team were sacked this week. In a posting on his social media platform X, Musk said Tesla plans "to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations."
Another executive on the stage who left was Colin Campbell, the former vice president of powertrain engineering.
The loss of so many executives is something the Tesla board should be monitoring, said Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.
"Lots of departures very quickly suggest a problematic leadership style," he said. "You shouldn't lose that many people that quickly."
STRATEGY SHIFTS
With Tesla's revenue, profit and share price falling, Musk has reasserted his dominance at the company. For some investors, that is more important than the executive churn.
"Elon's not there and we have this turnover? That's very bad," said Gene Munster, managing partner with Deepwater Asset Management and a Tesla investor. "If Elon's there, he's going to draw on talent to keep things going so it really all comes down to Elon remaining a part of the story."
Musk has signaled significant strategy shifts in response to falling sales and tougher competition - changes that could leave out executives running operations no longer central to the new plans.
Tesla's future lies in artificial intelligence and robotaxis, not conventional auto manufacturing, Musk told investors in April.
Musk is putting action behind those words. He has ordered a 10% cut in staff and scrapped plans for a new, low-cost line of vehicles in favor of revamping existing models to develop lower-priced entries. Tesla said it will pause construction of new factories until the company's sales had reached 3 million vehicles a year - enough to fill up the automaker's existing production operations.
"If you buy the narrative that Tesla is an AI company fundamentally, it may not be cause for concern," said K.C. Boyce, vice president at data analytics and advisory firm Escalent. "It fits into the idea of sizing and resourcing the business correctly to deliver on the promise of full self-driving and robotaxi."
Other senior Tesla executives, who were not among those onstage during the 2023 investor day, have left in recent weeks.
Daniel Ho, a former Ford executive and 10-year Tesla veteran who had been director of new car programs, is no longer with the company. Rohan Patel, a former Obama administration official who had been Tesla VP for public policy and key to expansion plans for India, said he is leaving.
Another executive to exit was Allie Arebalo, Tesla's senior director of human resources, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Martin Viecha, head of investor relations who also was on the stage last year with Musk, announced his departure at the end of an April 24 conference call with analysts.
Unlike most of the other departed executives, Viecha received a warm sendoff from Musk. "The reason I reached out to you was because I thought your analysis of Tesla was the best that I had seen," Musk said on the call.
Some analysts said the executive team is critical given the challenges faced by the EV maker.
"Having a strong bench behind Musk is important at this pivotal time given the Category 5 storm that Tesla's going through," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said.
I think its pretty clear that Elon should be locked in the lab/thinktank and allow others to run the businesses and,more importantly,speak for them.
I get that its likely a 5 year plan but people dont forget that quickly.