Tesla CEO announces expansion of EV Supercharger network amid job cuts

Within 10 days after disbanding the entire Supercharger team, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that the US-based EV maker will continue to expand its EV charging network under the same brand in the coming days. Musk, who also owns X (formerly Twitter), took to the social media platform to announce its company's commitment to expand the Supercharger network in the United States. This could prove to be an olive branch for other US-based EV manufacturers like Rivian, Ford Motor and General Motors. These EV makers have adopted Tesla’s charging connectors for their electric cars.

Elon Musk's change in stance came after his May 1 decision to eliminate the nearly 500-employee team, including its senior director, Rebecca Tinucci. Job cuts at Tesla has been in the news recently as the EV maker handed the pink slip to another 10 per cent of its employees last month. Soon after the decision, Musk had admitted that the growth of the Tesla Supercharger network will slow down.

The latest announcement from Elon Musk contradicts what he said earlier. Msuk wrote, "Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over $500 million expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of new chargers this year. That's just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher." The investment of $500 million indicates Tesla's efforts to actually scale up the Supercharger network rapidly.

Tesla's decision to disband the Supercharger team would impact a lot of other carmakers besides Rivian, Ford and GM. The EV maker had tied up with others like Kia, Honda, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Stellantis to offer third-party access to its EV fast chargers amid efforts to democratise EV charging network across the US. Tesla currently has around 6,250 Supercharger stations and over 57,000 connectors. The EV maker offers more fast chargers in the US than all other providers combined.