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After enjoying several years of good vibes, tax incentives and the launches of an impressive array of well-crafted electric vehicles, 2024 has been a challenging year for the EV market.
After the first wave of early adopters bought their vehicles, convincing other potential buyers to trade in their old ride has been tougher, as many wait for less-expensive, entry-level options to hit showroom floors. The issues with EV charging stations in frigid temperatures gave the industry a black eye. After being seen by many as the next Steve Jobs for his amazing technological innovations at Tesla, SpaceX and other companies, Elon Musk has become a rather polarizing figure. Publicly held EV manufacturers and charging companies have seen their stock prices drop. The recent news that Hertz plans to dump a sizeable portion of its EV fleet didn’t help, either.
On top of this cycle of negative news comes the report this week that Tesla reportedly laid off several hundred employees in its supercharger business. Tesla’s network of 50,000-plus installed superchargers have been the gold standard in the EV charging industry for their fast charging times and dependability. While Elon Musk says he will hire some of these employees back, many in the EV industry are worried that Tesla will not be able to support and grow its supercharger network with these massive cutbacks. Compounding the concerns and potential impact on the EV industry is that the fact that drivers of other manufacturers’ EVs can now charge up at Tesla Superchargers.
Few people in the EV industry know the impact of Tesla’s Supercharger network on the future of EVs better than Kyle Conner with Out of Spec Motoring. His online reviews of new EVs and charging networks are must-see content for folks interested in EVs. Conner has reported on Tesla’s decision in several YouTube videos and has spoken to many of the former Tesla employees who were laid off. He said in the most recent video that Tesla hasn’t said much yet about its future plans for the network other than it wants to improve the dependability of existing installations.