Elon Musk goes ‘absolutely hard core’ in another round of Tesla layoffs

Barely two weeks after initiating layoffs for at least 14,000 staffers, Tesla is now reportedly laying off hundreds more — including senior executives and the majority of its Supercharging team. 

According to an email first reported by The Information and then Electrek, the automaker’s senior director of EV charging Rebecca Tinucci is leaving the company on Tuesday, alongside most of the 500-person team she oversaw. Tesla’s head of the new vehicles program, Daniel Ho, is also out along with his team. These cuts come in addition to the recent 10 percent workforce reduction — and Musk’s email leaves room for more.

In the email sent to executives last night, Musk said he wants Tesla to be “absolutely hard core” about the cuts, and that staffers working under executives who “don’t obviously pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test” would also be out of a job. While the full scale of these new layoffs is unclear, Bloomberg previously reported that Tesla’s total headcount reduction that began earlier this month could end up being as high as 20 percent of its workforce, or well in excess of 20,000 employees.

Tinucci was notably responsible for the rollout of Tesla’s Supercharger network during her six years at the company, including efforts to get other companies to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) developed by Tesla. In his email, Musk says Tesla will still build new Superchargers and complete those already under construction.

Others impacted by the new layoffs include Daniel Ho, a ten-year Tesla veteran who served as director of vehicle programs and new product initiatives, and as program manager for the Model S, 3, and Y vehicles. Most of the public policy team led by former head of policy and business development Rohan Patel (who left the company during the previous wave of layoffs) are also being let go.

These latest job cuts follow what’s already shaping up to be a terrible year for Tesla. The company’s stock price has taken a beating as profit margins sunk to six-year lows amid price reductions that came in response to increased competition and lower demand for EVs. It’s also dealing with a plethora of reputational issues impacting its brand — including never-ending investigations into its Autopilot feature, a recall of its Cybertruck, and Musk’s contentious behavior both online and in the courtroom.