Interface News Trainee Reporter | Tian Heqi
With layoffs and bankruptcies, the U.S. new energy vehicle industry seems to be in trouble.
According to an email reported by The Information and Electrek, on April 29, local time, Musk has fired Rebecca Tinucci, senior director of Tesla's charging infrastructure, and up to 500 employees on her team. In addition, Musk fired Daniel Ho, the head of the automotive program.
Subsequently, William Jameson, head of Tesla's strategic charging program, posted on social platforms: "It has been confirmed that @特斯拉@埃隆 Musk has disbanded our entire supercharging organization. ”
In response to a question from a user of the social media platform about the number of people involved in the layoffs, William said: "A few hundred, globally. William also said that the whole team did not know the reason for the layoff.
Two weeks ago, Musk announced in an email to employees that Tesla would lay off more than 10% of its global workforce. According to Tesla's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company had more than 140,000 employees worldwide by the end of 2023, and the number of employees involved in layoffs could reach more than 14,000. Musk said the move was to cut costs and increase productivity.
In addition to Tesla, there are also a number of companies related to the new energy vehicle industry in the United States that are in turmoil.
According to Business Insider, citing sources familiar with the matter, U.S. electric car maker Fisker has begun closing its Manhattan Beach headquarters. Last month, the electric car maker told workers at its Manhattan Beach office in California that they would move to the company's office in La Palma, Calif., by May 1.
According to The Information, on May 6, local time, American lithium battery manufacturer Enovix laid off about 170 employees at its factory in Fremont, California, accounting for about one-third of the total number of employees. The layoffs could be part of the company's plan to cut $35 million in annual operating costs by the end of the year, announced last week. Enovix fell sharply at the end of the day, closing down 3%.
Why have there been many layoffs in the U.S. new energy vehicle industry recently?
Mo Ke, founder and president of True Lithium Research, said to Jiemian News that the United States is committed to developing its own new energy vehicle and power battery industry chain, "In this process, there will definitely be some companies that will not survive, and some new companies will definitely emerge." Tesla's various departments are actually equivalent to start-ups, and if they can't support themselves, they will have to be laid off or laid off. ”
He said that Tesla has not only laid off the supercharging team, but also the battery department is also making major layoffs, the main reason should be that the technical progress is not as expected and the existence value is not great. Fisker and Enovix, on the other hand, may have been forced to shrink due to their high costs, which affected their revenues.
"The U.S. government is now also aware of the difficulties in progress, and is consciously slowing down the pace of development of its own new energy vehicle market to give local companies more time." Mo Ke said.
The current fierce competition in the European and American charging pile market and the difficulty of making a profit may be one of the main factors for Tesla to eliminate the supercharging team.
Last month, Tritium (DCFC. US) declared bankruptcy. Tritium's disclosure of a bankruptcy plan to the SEC shows that the company and its three Australian subsidiaries, Tritium Pty Ltd, Tritium Holdings Pty Ltd and Tritium Nominee Pty Ltd, are insolvent.
From 2020 to 2023, Tritium lost $34.44 million, $63.09 million, $129 million, and $121 million, respectively, with a cumulative loss of about $350 million.
According to foreign media news on April 16, British Petroleum (BP) sources said that because the bet on the rapid growth of the commercial electric vehicle fleet has not paid off, the company has cut more than one-tenth of the employees in the electric vehicle charging business and withdrawn it from multiple markets.
At present, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the United States is still not high. Many U.S. car buyers are reluctant to abandon gasoline vehicles due to their relatively high prices and inadequate charging infrastructure, which in turn inhibits the expansion of the charging pile market.
According to the research data of Guotai Junan Securities, from January to March this year, the sales of new energy passenger vehicles in the United States reached 368,000, a year-on-year increase of 16.5%, and the penetration rate was only 9.4%. In contrast, China's new energy vehicle sales in the same period were 2.09 million units, a year-on-year increase of 31.8%, and the penetration rate has reached 31.1%.
Since 2023, the process of electrification in Europe and the United States has slowed down. In February 2023, the Biden administration plans to relax emissions restrictions proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; In March of the same year, the European Union announced that it would continue to sell new fuel vehicles using synthetic fuels after 2035; In September, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he would postpone the ban on gasoline-powered vehicles from 2030 to 2035.
In addition, Tesla's layoffs may also be related to the limited application scenarios of supercharging piles.
According to Jiemian News, supercharging piles are generally used for long-distance travel and emergency charging, which can help car owners quickly restore battery life and reduce the waiting time for charging during the journey. Although Tesla has begun to open its Superchargers to non-Tesla branded electric vehicles in some regions, home charging is still the first choice for daily EV charging.
After announcing the layoffs, Musk said on social media platforms on May 1: "Tesla still plans to expand the Supercharger network, but the expansion of new locations will be slower and will focus more on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations." ”
Tesla's Supercharger network has covered many countries and regions around the world. On January 5 this year, Tesla officially announced that the number of supercharging piles in the world reached 55,000.
As the "leader" of the new energy industry, Tesla has maintained a strong momentum in the construction of electric vehicle charging network in the United States for many years. Musk also hinted at the FT Future Car Conference in May 2022 that Tesla will add CCS connectors in North America to open the supercharging network to other new energy vehicle owners. According to consumer surveys by J.D. Power and others, Tesla's Supercharger network is not only the largest in the United States, but also the most reliable.
Tesla is also actively deploying in the European and Chinese markets. In Europe, its supercharging piles are mainly distributed in Germany, France, Norway, the United Kingdom and other countries, and the total number has exceeded 10,000. In November 2021, Musk announced on social platforms that "a pilot opening of Tesla Superchargers to other brands of electric vehicles has begun (in the Netherlands)."
As of November 1, 2023, Tesla's Supercharger stations have achieved 100% coverage in provincial capitals and municipalities in Chinese mainland. Among them, more than 1,800 super charging stations and more than 11,000 super charging piles have been completed.
Will Tesla's layoffs of the supercharging team involve the China business team? Jiemian News contacted Tesla's Chinese official on the matter, but did not receive a reply as of press time.
Tesla's network of Superchargers also involves countries such as Australia. Tesla's V3 network of Superchargers will contribute 60% of all new charging capacity in the country in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Australian Public Fast Charging Station Report for Electric Vehicles released by Next System.
Musk has always been proud of Tesla's Supercharging network. In a live interview with the New York Times DealBook forum at the end of November last year, Musk said: "You can also think of Tesla as a company that combines multiple companies in one." Just like our Supercharging Network, if Tesla Supercharging Network were an independent company, it would be among the Fortune 500 in its own right, relying solely on the Supercharging System. ”
Tesla's layoffs of the supercharging team will cause disruptions to the supply chain and a series of construction plans, which has been uneasy for industry observers and participants.
Some of Tesla's charging infrastructure partners, including small and medium-sized enterprises that install and maintain EV charging equipment for Tesla, were shocked that Tesla did not warn investors in advance of the withdrawal of plans to build charging infrastructure for charging infrastructure.
Tesla's move has increased the crisis of trust among its partners, which may affect the investment decisions of other companies in this area.
In addition, Tesla's decision could also undermine the U.S. government's efforts to promote electric vehicles.
In November 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which requires significant investment in U.S. infrastructure, of which $7.5 billion is earmarked for charging stations; In September 2022, the U.S. government passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote the development of the new energy industry. The layoffs may have a negative impact on the U.S. electric vehicle market.
But on the other hand, the competitive landscape of the industry may change. Some companies engaged in the construction of charging infrastructure believe that Tesla's layoffs may create opportunities for other companies to enter the field of charging infrastructure, which is conducive to enhancing the competitive momentum in the industry.
From the perspective of regional distribution, the global charging pile market is dominated by Chinese mainland, Europe and the United States. Among them, China, as the world's largest new energy vehicle market, is in a leading position in the construction of charging piles. According to data from the China Charging Alliance, by the end of 2023, the number of charging piles in China will be 8.596 million. In terms of the market share of public fast charging and slow charging, Europe is less than half of China's.
Tesla's elimination of the supercharging team may also provide an opportunity for local charging service providers and other NEV brands to expand their market share.