The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/3/24147402/tesla-supercharger-layoffs-stalled-ev-infrastructure-projects
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The race is on to fill the power gaps as questions swirl around Tesla’s Superchargers

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The Tesla Supercharger Algorithm Revisited: A Tale of Two Pseudosimple Chargers

Tesla’s Supercharger network is widely accepted as the gold standard on how to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure, one that other EV networks can’t seem to match in size and reliability. According to BloombergNEF, Tesla accounts for 74 percent of all fast chargers in North America.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Tesla was on the verge of making its vehicle charging plug the de facto standard in North America, and its competitors and stakeholders are counting on a smooth ride. The team will focus less on installing new Supercharging locations and instead on 100 percent availability, according to Musk. How the situation will translate into reality is not known, with laid off employees telling InsideEVs that reduced manpower will affect their ability to respond to outages.

It is more compatible with an out-of-money startup than the most valuable publicly traded car company in the world. Even if some new version of the Tesla team were to reach out to finalize the deal, “we wouldn’t do business with them, because the premise for a contract is reliability.”

Bounced emails. Stalled projects. Delayed. At least 500 layoffs have been done from the Supercharger business, and top executive Rebecca Tinucci is one of them, because of the hard core approach to cost cutting taken by CEO Musk.

Projects to install Level 2chargers at apartment complexes have been affected. A condo owner named Don Burke posted on X that his building was in the middle of installing four chargers when the project stalled. Burke said his emails to Tesla employees have bounced back, and there’s no indication that there’s anyone left at the company who can help.

Tesla also has a big contract with Hilton to install up to 20,000 chargers at hotels, but it’s unknown if the project will be affected. a spokesman for the hotel chain didn’t respond to the request

Every major auto company as well as the Ford, Rivian, and GM electric vehicles are in danger of missing out on the chance to use the company’s Superchargers this year due to the cuts by tesla. Some Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners took to Reddit sharing emails sent from Ford that their complimentary fast-charging adapter is delayed “due to supply constraints.” Some have moved from May to June, others as late as September.

Tinucci spearheaded the project to have the Supercharger install so other manufacturers could plug in without needing to bring their own plug-in.

According to a former employee who spoke to The Washington Post, Tinucci met with Musk privately before the layoffs to express her opposition to the magnitude of the layoffs. Now with Tinucci out, along with most of the Supercharger team, Tesla’s big lead is at risk.

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