Photo: GM
Tesla fired its entire Supercharger team in April, surprising everyone. Now, the EV maker is unable to supply the NACS to CCS adapters that allow non-Tesla EVs to access Tesla Superchargers. Among those affected are GM and Polestar, which confirmed they had to delay the NACS plans and Supercharger access.
In April, Tesla fired its entire Supercharger team in a surprising move, supposedly because its chief, Rebecca Tinucci, would not want to fire enough employees. The decision came after a bad quarterly report, showing that Tesla is struggling to cope with waning EV demand. Tesla CEO Elon Musk wanted as much as 20% of Tesla's workforce laid off and was angry that Tinucci was reluctant to fire people. Musk fired Tinucci and her entire Supercharger team of about 500 people to prove his point.
This created chaos at one of Tesla's most successful divisions and also affected Tesla partners upstream and downstream. Contractors working on new Supercharger stations were cut out, with no one to even say goodbye. Small companies that invested a lot of money into equipment to work on expanding the Supercharger network were left holding the bag. This will make everyone think twice before working with Tesla in the future.
Companies that adopted the NACS standard are also among those affected by Musk's hasty decision. When the news of the Supercharger team wipeout became public, carmakers that signed a partnership with Tesla expressed their confusion. So far, only Ford and Rivian owners have gained access to the Tesla Supercharger network. Tesla supplied small batches of NACS to CCS adapters to Ford and Rivian owners, but deliveries stopped after the Supercharger team was fired.
Not having a Tesla-supplied adapter is not the end of the world, as third-party suppliers have caught on and are now offering comparable adapters. This made the Rivian and Ford owners lucky to have gained Supercharger access before Musk fired Tinucci and her team. However, other EV owners were not so fortunate, and there was no timeline for when to expect to charge their EVs at Tesla Supercharger stations.
GM was supposed to gain Supercharger access in February, but no NACS adapters have been delivered to its customers. Polestar and Volvo were also expected to begin their Supercharger partnership by the end of May. So far, none have achieved that, with Polestar confirming to PCMag that the next deadline is "later this summer," with no precise date confirmed. Meanwhile, GM said NACS adapters would become available to purchase "later this year." Volvo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla is reportedly rehiring some of the people who were laid off with the Supercharger team. George Bahadue, senior manager of site acquisition and business development for commercial charging at Tesla, confirmed this on LinkedIn. Hopefully, Tesla will restart the Supercharger engines again because there's much to do in the EV charging department. All EV brands in the US are expected to get access to the Supercharger network by the end of 2024 or early 2025.
This created chaos at one of Tesla's most successful divisions and also affected Tesla partners upstream and downstream. Contractors working on new Supercharger stations were cut out, with no one to even say goodbye. Small companies that invested a lot of money into equipment to work on expanding the Supercharger network were left holding the bag. This will make everyone think twice before working with Tesla in the future.
Companies that adopted the NACS standard are also among those affected by Musk's hasty decision. When the news of the Supercharger team wipeout became public, carmakers that signed a partnership with Tesla expressed their confusion. So far, only Ford and Rivian owners have gained access to the Tesla Supercharger network. Tesla supplied small batches of NACS to CCS adapters to Ford and Rivian owners, but deliveries stopped after the Supercharger team was fired.
Not having a Tesla-supplied adapter is not the end of the world, as third-party suppliers have caught on and are now offering comparable adapters. This made the Rivian and Ford owners lucky to have gained Supercharger access before Musk fired Tinucci and her team. However, other EV owners were not so fortunate, and there was no timeline for when to expect to charge their EVs at Tesla Supercharger stations.
GM was supposed to gain Supercharger access in February, but no NACS adapters have been delivered to its customers. Polestar and Volvo were also expected to begin their Supercharger partnership by the end of May. So far, none have achieved that, with Polestar confirming to PCMag that the next deadline is "later this summer," with no precise date confirmed. Meanwhile, GM said NACS adapters would become available to purchase "later this year." Volvo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla is reportedly rehiring some of the people who were laid off with the Supercharger team. George Bahadue, senior manager of site acquisition and business development for commercial charging at Tesla, confirmed this on LinkedIn. Hopefully, Tesla will restart the Supercharger engines again because there's much to do in the EV charging department. All EV brands in the US are expected to get access to the Supercharger network by the end of 2024 or early 2025.
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