At the end of last month, Tesla shocked the automotive industry by suddenly laying off the entire team that had built its vaunted nationwide Supercharger network. The layoffs didn’t stick.
Bloomberg reports, “Tesla Inc. has begun hiring back some of the almost 500 members of its Supercharging team that Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk dismissed late last month.”
It’s unclear how many employees will return. Rival networks had begun hiring the team members almost immediately, and several had moved to snap-up sites where Tesla had planned to build new chargers.
The move came after Tesla posted poorer-than-expected first-quarter sales results. CEO Elon Musk spent a recent earnings call telling investors Tesla was now more of an automation company than an automaker and reportedly canceled plans for an inexpensive “Model 2” electric car.
However, the move to stop or slow the development of the Supercharger network shocked observers. The most extensive network of its kind in the U.S., the Supercharger has long been a key marketing advantage for Tesla.
Tesla has accepted federal funds to build more charging sites than any other company. The company risks losing that money if it can’t make good on planned construction.
Whether re-hiring employees means Tesla will resume construction on all those sites is unclear.
Musk has also laid off much of the new car development team, calling future products like the planned $250,000 Tesla Roadster into question.
