---
title: "Fired Supercharger Maintenance Workers Say Network Will Fall Into Disrepair"
description: "Laid off Tesla Supercharger workers are warning that the quality of the EV charging network could fall into disrepair."
date: "2024-05-04"
modified: "2024-05-04"
authors:
  - name: "Sharon Adarlo"
    job_title: "Correspondent"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/sadarlo"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/supercharger-maintenance-workers-network-disrepair"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "supercharger"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Fired Supercharger Maintenance Workers Say Network Will Fall Into Disrepair

![Laid off Tesla Supercharger workers are warning that the quality of the EV charging network could fall into disrepair.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/supercharger-maintenance-workers-network-disrepair.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Justin Sullivan via Getty / Futurism\</em\>*

## Network Trouble

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk fired scores of employees in the past few weeks, he also [got rid of practically everybody on the Supercharger team](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-pulling-out-supercharger-leases>), who were working on developing [the electric car company's vast network of EV chargers](<https://insideevs.com/news/717981/tesla-new-layoffs-supercharging-team/>) — predictably [ticking off Tesla owners](<https://futurism.com/tesla-fans-furious-supercharger-team>).

Now with Musk signaling he's shifting towards [AI and robotaxis](<https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/tesla-robotaxi-elon-musk-vision-b82d0662>), recently fired ex-workers who serviced and maintained the chargers are sounding the alarm that the network is likely to decline, [*InsideEVs* reports](<https://insideevs.com/news/718132/tesla-laid-off-employee-interview/>), because there aren't many service technicians left after Musk took a buzzsaw to the company roster.

"My personal opinion is that quality is going to deteriorate," an ex-worker told *InsideEVs*. "Customers are going to start seeing issues last longer than what they were used to."

Around the world, Tesla has [upwards of 50,000 Supercharger stalls](<https://insideevs.com/news/705972/tesla-supercharging-network-roughly-6000-stations/>). It's unknown how many charger service technicians Tesla employed before this spate of brutal layoffs, but workers were apparently working around the clock and even skipping time with family, according to *InsideEVs*. Now imagine a skeleton screw trying to play whac-a-mole on any issues that may pop up in the Tesla Supercharger network.

"We couldn't keep up. And now the network is even larger," the former worker told *InsideEVs*. "Now, guess what? There are even more consumers. There's gonna be a lot more issues that could possibly come up."

## Cloudy Future

The huge wrinkle with Musk pulling away from the Superchargers is that [other car companies like Ford](<https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2024/02/29/ford-customers-can-now-charge-on-tesla-superchargers-in-u-s---ca.html>) are reliant on the stalls to charge the batteries of their own electric vehicles. Other car companies who need the Superchargers [include automakers](<https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/tesla-superchargers-open-to-other-evs-what-to-know-a9262067544/#:~:text=Other%20EV%20makers%20aren't,Supercharger%20compatible%20starting%20in%202024.>) such as Kia, Honda and Jaguar.

But automakers aren't totally hedging their bets on Tesla, where [Musk has proved to be so erratic](<https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1>) that he's sometimes alarmed other Tesla executives. Last year, a consortium of car companies came together and announced they will be building 30,000 chargers under [the brand name Ionna](<https://ionna.com/>).

That's a good thing. Even if the sales of electric vehicles are [flatlining at the moment](<https://thedriven.io/2024/05/02/byd-electric-car-sales-jump-but-profits-nearly-halve-as-ev-price-war-bites/>), they're still an important component in [combating carbon emissions](<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/electric-vehicles-beat-gas-cars-on-climate-emissions-over-time/>) and tamping down climate change — so any infrastructure investments ultimately benefit us all.

**More on Tesla:** [*Tesla Tells Excited Young Interns That Their Internships Have Been Canceled*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-interns-canceled>)