Tesla delays another pay adjustment as employees are unhappy with the last bump
Tesla told employees today that it will do another pay adjustment, a second in a few weeks, after employees expressed disappointment with the last one.
But the automaker has now delayed the second pay increase, which is happening amid the CEO, Elon Musk, asking for a historic compensation package.
Tesla recently announced the annual wage increases for employees across the company following annual reviews.
Much has been said about Tesla factory workers getting pay bumps following the auto workers union’s win over the Big Three Automakers, putting more pressure on non-unionized automakers like Tesla.
However, not all Tesla employees have been happy with the pay adjustments.
We noted that Tesla told salaried employees that they won’t be getting their normal stock compensation following their annual reviews.
The pay increase was also less than anticipated for hourly employees amid the high inflation environment.
Tesla employees have reached out to express those concerns.
A Tesla employee told Electrek about the impact of the reduced stock compensation:
This has had a severe impact with morale within the engineers at the company, since the increase in compensation hasn’t made up for the amount inflation as gone up over the last year. There has been significantly more discussions “at the bar” between engineers about compensation than seen in the past. Especially with a lot of high performers leaving for significantly higher pay by going to competitors. This is additional leaving holes in certain groups that haven’t been able to backfill. Newer employees also don’t believe that their current starting equity will have the same explosion that those who have been with the company pre-2019 have seen.
Apparently, Tesla heard some of those concerns and on January 1st, the company sent an email to employees letting them know that it will do another pay adjustment.
Tesla wrote in that email:
Thank you for sharing your feedback on the recent pay adjustments. We value your feedback and have decided to do another comprehensive review of our variable rate pay bands and the increases that were provided to ensure we get it right. Our goal is to provide market-competitive pay and benefits so we can retain the great, skilled talent we have.
Any adjustments that were already communicated will still go into effect on January 8 and we will update you by January 15 on any additional changes. As always, Tesla is a pay-for-performance company and employees must maintain good performance to be eligible for market adjustments. Thank you for your patience and sharing your feedback with us directly.
However, the January 15 deadline came and employees didn’t receive an updated pay adjustment.
Hourly employees were told that Tesla would need another two weeks to do a “market review”.
Electrek obtained the email sent to employees earlier this week:
It’s important to us that these decisions are made thoughtfully, so we will follow up in the next two weeks with information about what the market review means for you specifically.
This second wave of pay adjustments at Tesla comes amid the CEO, Elon Musk, himself discussing his own potential new compensation package.
But the CEO is using a negotiation tactic akin to a union threatening a strike, which is ironic considering he is hoping to keep unions away from Tesla.
Musk said that he wants 25% voting power at Tesla, which would require him to roughly double his number of shares in the company. If that doesn’t happen, the CEO said that he would prefer building AI products at his new startup xAI.
The threat is especially problematic as the CEO describes Tesla as an AI/robotics company and even said that Tesla is worth nothing if it doesn’t solve the AI problem with self-driving.
Electrek’s Take
As a Tesla fan, one of my biggest concerns has always been talent retention. Tesla is what it is today, the biggest driving force in the electric revolution, because of the incredible talent at the company.
That’s why it is super frustrating to me when Elon Musk supporters claim that Tesla would die without him:
The compensation has been good at Tesla, but that’s mostly due to stock options and the performance of the stock up until 2022.
The company also had the benefit of being an extremely mission-driven organization, which generally attracts talent, and had an inspiring leader in Elon Musk.
But now it feels like all these things that attract and retain talent at Tesla are slowly eroding.
Tesla’s stock performance is down. Stock options are down. Employees are not happy with the pay adjustments. The mission is still there, but it feels like the electric revolution is now well on its way. And finally, there’s Musk, who is increasingly polarizing, and he is asking for Tesla to basically give him back the shares he wasted on buying an overpriced Twitter.
Again, I’m not saying Musk doesn’t deserve a new compensation plan, but the way he asked for it by threatening to divert AI product development from Tesla to xAI should be concerning to Tesla shareholders and employees.
It feels like a dark cloud is over Tesla right now.
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The BYD “Shenzhen” set sail on its first voyage overseas this week. With 9,200 parking spots, or about enough to fill 20 football fields, BYD’s new car transport ship is now the world’s largest.
BYD’s largest car carrier sets sail for Brazil
BYD’s Shenzhen is on its maiden voyage to Brazil after setting sail on April 27. The vessel is carrying over 7,000 new energy vehicles (NEVs), including electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). It’s the largest single batch of NEVs exported from China so far.
The new vessel is BYD’s fourth car transport ship and the world’s largest, capable of carrying 9,000 vehicles. According to the company, that’s enough to fill about 20 football fields.
BYD launched its first car carrier, the Explorer No 1, in January 2024. It has already completed several trips to Germany, Spain, and Brazil.
Its second, the BYD Changzhou, set sail in December 2024, followed by the Hefei earlier this year. All three vessels can carry up to 7,000 vehicles, making the Shenzhen the largest so far.
The Shenzhen is named after the automaker’s hometown and demonstrates “BYD’s firm determination to promote sustainable development in Brazil.”
BYD is preparing to launch two more vessels, the Changsha and Xi’an. The Changsha is expected to launch soon, while the Xi’an was introduced on April 2.
The new car carriers will help accelerate BYD’s aggressive overseas expansion. In the first three months of 2025, the company sold over 206,000 NEVs overseas, more than double the number it sold last year.
BYD sells a wide range of vehicles in Brazil, including the low-cost Dolphin Mini, starting at around $20,000 (99,800 BRL). In October, it launched its first hybrid pickup truck, the Shark, starting at 379,800 BTL ($66,900).
Brazil is only one overseas market that BYD is targeting. BYD’s sales are expected to double in Europe in 2025, with significant growth in other key regions like Southeast Asia, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea, to name a few.
Source: BYD
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‘Tesla homes’ in a Houston neighborhood where all the homes have Tesla solar roofs and Powerwalls went for sale.
7 out of the 11 homes have reportedly already sold.
Tesla neighborhood is a term that is being used for new developments where all the homes integrate all or part of Tesla’s power ecosystem, including the Powerwall home battery pack.
The best example is a giant new development project in Austin, Texas, by Brookfield Asset Management and Dacra in which up to 12,000 new homes are to be built and offering Tesla solar roofs and Powerwalls.
However, since the announcement, it looks like only some of the homes in the new neighborhood have Tesla energy systems.
In 2022, Tesla also announced a similar project in Las Vegas.
A year later, the company claimed to have deployed “over 600 solar neighborhoods” worldwide, with a total capacity exceeding 100 MW.
One such ‘Tesla neighborhood’ is a small block of 11 townhouse homes featuring Tesla solar roofs and Powerwalls in Houston, Texas.
The homes were recently completed and went on sale, starting at $544,900.
Here are some pictures from the listings:
Utopia Homes, the developer behind the project, described the properties (via Chron):
Step into modern elegance expertly crafted by Utopia Homes. This property showcases groundbreaking Tesla Solar Roof Shingles and Power Wall technology, ensuring 100% energy security and eliminating electric bills for a truly sustainable lifestyle.
The house has proved popular according to the real estate agents, with 7 out of 11 homes already sold.
As we recently reported, Tesla’s solar roofs have proven to be a more expensive and niche product than the company previously presented.
Tesla has largely stopped discussing it, but it is still being deployed through some third-party installers, such as in this case, on new homes.
However, its Powerwall product remains a very popular solution for homeowners seeking greater energy independence and protection against outages, which have been a frequent problem in Texas.
More homeowners are turning to generators, and alternatives like home battery packs are gaining popularity.
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Canadian electric propulsion specialist Vision Marine continues to graduate beyond advanced outboard motors into a provider of all-electric boats. This month, Vision introduced two new electric pontoon boats – the 12-passenger V24 and 15-passenger V30, each capable of a range up to 90 nautical miles.
Vision Marine Technologies ($VMAR) is a Canadian technology company with over 25 years of experience in the marine industry. The company made waves (literally) by introducing its E-Motion turnkey powertrain system, which it has since integrated into a catamaran speedboat, which set a speed record of 109 mph in 2022.
Since then, Vision has introduced six hp two-cruiser vessels – the Fantail 217 and Volt 180, each capable of transporting 10 passengers via its E-Motion technology. Most recently, Vision Marine has integrated the full power of its 180 hp electric powertrain technology into two additional vessels, both electric pontoon boats.
Earlier this month, the company officially began sales of the Vision V24 and V30, which you can view below.
Vision Marine brings power and range to electric pontoons
According to Vision Marine Technologies, orders for its two new electric pontoon boats are now open, and they are touting the same E-Motion technology that put the company on the map a few years ago.
The first model is the V24, a 12-passenger electric pontoon that is 24′ 8″ in length and has 180 hp. The ultra-quiet E-Motion powertrain is powered by a standard 43 kWh marine battery pack, offering 40 nautical miles (46 miles) of all-electric range on a single charge. For added range, Vision sells a version of the electric pontoon with a second battery pack, totaling 86 kWh and delivering up to 90 nautical miles (104 miles) of range.
While the V24 offers more of a classic attempt at the pontoon boat, Vision’s additional new vessel, the all-electric V30, is a tad sportier and provides room for more passengers aboard (15). This 30′ vessel features the same E-Motion powertrain options, complete with the same two battery configurations to offer the same ranges as the V24.
However, the V30 has additional features such as 4 x 6.5″ interior speakers and cool-touch seats. Both models feature an integrated onboard charger that supports both 120- 240V (30 to 50 amps) for seamless charging, no matter the dock plug while moored.
The Vision V24 starts at $99,995 for the standard battery pack version, while the V30 starts at a higher price of $139,995. As previously mentioned, both electric pontoon boats are available to order today.
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