--- title: "After Firing Entire Supercharger Team, Elon Musk Reverses Course and Says He’ll Be Spending $500 Million on Growing the Charging Network" description: "After firing the 500-person EV charging team, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reversed course, saying he's still committed to expanding the network." date: "2024-05-10" modified: "2024-05-10" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/firing-supercharger-team-elon-musk-reverses-course" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "superchargers" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # After Firing Entire Supercharger Team, Elon Musk Reverses Course and Says He’ll Be Spending $500 Million on Growing the Charging Network ![After firing the 500-person EV charging team, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reversed course, saying he's still committed to expanding the network.]() *\Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images\* ## Hard Charging After [firing]() senior director of EV charging Rebecca Tinucci along with her [entire 500-person team]() last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reversed course, [claiming]() the company is still committed to spending "well over" half a billion dollars to grow its flagship network of Superchargers. "That’s just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher," he added. (He'd [earlier said]() Tesla "still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations.") As expected, Musk didn't go into detail about his considerable change in tune. The mercurial CEO [got major flack]() — including from some of his most ardent supporters — for tanking a facet of the company that greatly sets it apart from its competitors in the US. And should we really take him by his latest word? The company is in crisis mode and Musk is seemingly keen on controlling the narrative to reassure spooked investors. ## Damage Incorporated The EV maker's operations were thrown into chaos last month, with [numerous key executives]() leaving the company [following several rounds of mass layoffs](). The company's sales are in freefall while the rise of Tesla's many international competitors can no longer be ignored. The dissolution of Tinucci's team has [hit the company's reputation particularly hard](). After all, Tesla's relatively reliable fast-charging network is unique in today's EV infrastructure landscape, at least in the US. Many buyers have cited it as the number one reason for choosing a Tesla. Whether Musk's purported $500 million spend will turn things around and allow it to still expand in the future — at the very top of many customers' wish lists — remains to be seen. Musk's decision to scale down the company's Supercharger efforts is already leaving a massive vacuum behind. Companies, [including fossil fuel giant BP](), are already frothing at the bit, signaling they're ready to take over planned Supercharger stations. And in a big sense, Musk's latest change of heart highlights the billionaire's kneejerk and particularly [chaotic leadership style](). As [*Bloomberg* points out](), it's far from the first time Musk has completely reversed course. In 2019, he announced that all Tesla stores would close in favor of online-only sales. He [changed his mind]() just ten days later. **More on Tesla:** *[Smugglers Busted Trying to Sneak Cybertrucks Into Russia]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()