Leave it to Tesla CEO Elon Musk to add more chaos to a situation that he ostensibly created in the first place.
In a tweet on X early Friday morning, Musk addressed concerns many have had over his recent move to shrink down Tesla’s (TSLA) Supercharger team.
“Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over $500M expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year,” Musk wrote. “That’s just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher.”
Shortly thereafter, Musk also started a “Supercharger Community” on X, where members can discuss and share stories on the topic.
Whether Musk’s proclamation that Tesla is still heavily investing in the Supercharger is accurate or not is another story, but the industry, investors, and EV owners are seeking clarity and demanding answers.
Last week Musk and Tesla laid off nearly the entire Supercharger organization, which was responsible for the build-out of its best-in-class charging network. In the aftermath of the initial layoffs, Musk addressed the Supercharger news on X, stating that the network will grow at “a slower pace” for new locations.
Automakers like GM, Ford, Kia, Polestar, Stellantis, Honda, and others had signed up to access the Supercharger network, and incorporate Tesla’s NACS plug inlet in their future vehicles, under the promise that the Supercharger network would continue to grow at a steady pace.
Tesla was likely getting an earful from its NACS partners, questioning what they were getting exactly after signing deals to access the Supercharger network.
In addition, contractors and others working with Tesla on existing Supercharger projects were getting their emails bounced back with no feedback on what to do next. Tesla also apparently backed out of leases at four upcoming Supercharger sites in New York, per EV blog Electrek.
Charging network provider EVgo told Yahoo Finance that it was “actively engaged” in the development of the NACS network and was adding more locations to take advantage of Tesla’s move to backtrack its expansion.
EVgo competitor Blink Charging is also poised to move on the opportunity, claiming potential Supercharger customers contacted Blink about future orders in the wake of Tesla’s move.
Even oil and gas stalwarts like BP are moving in on Tesla. With its BP Pulse charging network, the company said it “is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement.”
The company’s top executive is even telling Tesla’s jilted partners to give him a ring.
“If there are stranded real estate partners who are looking for someone to call, they should feel free to pick up the phone and call me or look me up on LinkedIn,” BP Pulse Americas CEO Sujay Sharma told Bloomberg.