Tesla has reportedly begun rehiring a portion of the approximately 500 employees from its Supercharger team who were previously laid off.
According to Bloomberg, Max de Zegher, the director of charging for North America, is one of the personnel who have been re-hired by Elon Musk.
Elon Musk Rehires Supercharger Team
In addition to De Zegher, Rebecca Tinucci, the senior director, was dismissed at the end of last month, along with the entire Supercharger team.
Approximately 500 employees responsible for expanding Tesla's Supercharger network were let go by Elon Musk as part of the company's previously announced 10% global workforce reduction.
Last week, Elon Musk made a significant announcement regarding the company's plans for expanding the Supercharger network. According to Musk, over $500 million will be invested in this expansion throughout the year.
This decision comes just days after he emphasized the importance of improving uptime at existing locations. In order to achieve that, Tesla will have to bring back a significant number of employees.
As more OEMs gain access, the Supercharger network is expected to play an increasingly significant role in Tesla's revenue.
While the charging experience for Tesla EVs at Superchargers is typically seamless, it's important to note that this convenience is specifically designed for Tesla vehicles.
With only five different models, the charging process is optimized for these cars. However, it remains uncertain whether the same level of reliability will be maintained when vehicles from other brands attempt to charge.
The layoffs seemed to have halted Tesla's progress on developing a more advanced charger, which would have been advantageous for vehicles utilizing 800 V or 900 V architectures, such as Audi, Porsche, Lucid, and other manufacturers.
Even more concerning, numerous reports indicate that progress on several Supercharger sites has come to a halt.
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Tesla Layoff Saga
According to Ars Technica, this is not the first incident where Musk has had to reconsider a hasty business move. In 2019, a decision was made to close all of Tesla's retail locations in order to fund a more affordable version of the Model 3 sedan.
Within a mere two weeks, the decision was swiftly overturned, primarily driven by the legal ramifications of violating numerous leases.
Tesla has been making headlines lately due to a string of layoffs that have affected multiple departments, including the advertising unit. The most recent round of layoffs was recently finalized.
Over the past year, Tesla has successfully persuaded its competitors to adopt its plugs as the new industry standard. Additionally, the company has inked agreements with several prominent manufacturers, allowing their customers to access Tesla's network.
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