Even if you're a die-hard, paying-blue-check, all-in-on-$TSLA, Elon-can-do-no-wrong superfan, it's awfully hard to find a silver lining around the news that most—if not all—of Tesla's Supercharging team was caught up in the company's latest round of layoffs. Last night, The Information reported that roughly 500 people in Tesla's charging division are being cut from the company, including its senior director and head of new products.
It was no wonder that rival automakers spent much of 2023 announcing they would switch to Tesla's proprietary North American Charging Standard plug and allow access to the Supercharger network. That's been widely seen as a win-win for all involved; Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Rivian and the rest get access to the best charging network around, and Tesla would gain an estimated $20 billion in charging revenue alone by 2030.