Tesla Supercharger slowdown finds a potential buyer in BP

Posted on


Tesla’s planned slowdown in the buildout of its already robust Supercharger Network has found a potential buyer in BP, which is reportedly planning to snap up real estate and talent related to the EV leader’s business plan.

BP CEO Sujay Sharma said the company “is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement.” Bloomberg first reported the news.

Last week, we reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had let go of several key members of its Supercharger team, along with a sizable number of lower-level employees who worked on the program.

Musk explained that Tesla was planning to slow down its buildout of new Supercharger stations and expand on existing ones. He also said the company would still build Superchargers, just at a slower rate than before.

Elon Musk explains reasoning behind Tesla Supercharger team disband

This announcement caused some questions to be raised about Tesla and its expansive Supercharger presence in the U.S., especially as a large group of automakers that includes Ford, Rivian, General Motors, Hyundai, Polestar, and several others committed to adopting Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS).

These automakers also are gaining access to 12,000 Tesla Supercharger locations in North America. Ford was the first to gain access in March.

Now, the charging stations are set to be grabbed by rival companies who are looking to expand their own EV infrastructure. BP is one of them, a company that put $1 billion on the line last year when it announced it would work to expand its EV charging footprint.

As Musk has effectively paused any new Supercharger projects, there are numerous portions of land suitable for EV chargers that are now in limbo between waiting for Tesla to relaunch charging construction and potentially embracing new projects from other companies.

BP seems keen on grabbing land that Tesla found suitable. Sharma is making no mistake, he wants to be contacted so BP can build more chargers.

“If there are stranded real estate partners who are looking for someone to call, they should feel free to pick up the phone and call me or look me up on LinkedIn,” he said on LinkedIn, according to the report.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Tesla Supercharger slowdown finds a potential buyer in BP





Source

Elon Musk shares Tesla Cybertruck FSD release update

Posted on


It appears that Tesla Cybertruck drivers would have to wait quite a bit longer before their all-electric pickup trucks could receive Full Self Driving (FSD) functions. The update was posted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a recent post on X. 

The Tesla Cybertruck is the electric vehicle maker’s most advanced and most pricey vehicle today. Despite this, the all-electric pickup trucks have been delivered without advanced driver-assist functions like FSD or Autopilot. This has resulted in a rather unusual situation where owners of today’s most advanced Tesla are not able to enjoy FSD features that are accessible to the company’s most affordable cars. 

It was then no surprise that Tesla Cybertruck owners have been asking the company about a tentative timeframe for the release of Autopilot and FSD to their vehicles. Among these was longtime FSD tester @WholeMarsBlog, who asked Elon Musk if Tesla could release some driver-assist functions like lane-keeping to the Cybertruck. Musk responded to the Cybertruck owner, though the timeframe he gave was quite conservative. 

“We must focus on FSD for the other 99% of the fleet. Cybertruck FSD is a few months away,” Musk wrote in a post on X. 

Considering that Musk’s typical estimates have a tendency to be late, it would not be surprising if the Cybertruck gets access to FSD months after the unveiling of the Robotaxi “Cybercab,” which is expected to be held on August 8, 2024. Prior to the upcoming vehicle’s unveiling, Tesla would likely be focusing its resources on training and improving FSD for the Cybercab. Doing so would likely require Tesla to gather data from its current fleet, which is mostly comprised of the S3XY lineup. 

Elon Musk’s announcement on the Cybertruck’s FSD release has met polarizing reactions from the electric vehicle community, with some stating that the Foundation Series Cybertruck has now become grossly overpriced. The Foundation Series package costs $20,000, after all, and a huge portion of that is FSD, which was priced at $12,000 when the Cybertruck started deliveries. Considering that FSD has now dropped to $8,000 and the advanced driver-assist system is still months away, Cybertruck buyers today do seem to be getting less than what they’re paying for. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Elon Musk shares Tesla Cybertruck FSD release update





Source

Tesla Giga Mexico jobs disappear from the company’s career page

Posted on


Amid Tesla’s layoffs, the company’s job listings from its official website have disappeared. 

In December 2023, Tesla Mexico posted new job positions in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo León (NL), near the company’s next gigafactory. At the time, the company was looking for an Indirect Procurement Manager for Giga Mexico in Santa Catarina, NL.

In February 2024, Tesla ramped up its hiring efforts for sales and service jobs in Mexico. It also posted vacant positions for its Supercharger Network, energy storage, and solar business in the country. 

In early Q2 2024, an Elon Musk email leak revealed that Tesla planned to lay off 10% of its global staff. The layoffs have already affected workers in China and the United States. The layoffs in China and the United States were swift, with some employees sharing that they were effective immediately. Meanwhile, in Europe, Tesla layoffs must follow procedure and are slower to execute. 

As for Mexico, Tesla seems to have paused its hiring efforts in the country. Although, NL’s State Secretary of Economy assured that Tesla’s layoffs would not affect Giga Mexico’s construction. 

“As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity.

“As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally. There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done,” said Elon Musk.

If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via X @Writer_01001101. 

Tesla Giga Mexico jobs disappear from the company’s career page





Source