Elon Musk elevates his chief of staff who was in hot water at Tesla amid leadership shake-up
Elon Musk has elevated Omead Afshar, who worked in his office in what many saw as a “chief of staff” position, to a top executive role at Tesla after the young engineer was reportedly in hot water at the automaker.
This appears to be part of a broader leadership shake-up at Tesla.
Afshar has had an interesting career trajectory.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he studied biomedical engineering at UC Irvine and found himself working at medical equipment manufacturer St. Jude Medical from 2011 to 2017.
Then, he did a short 7-month stint as “Manager, High Voltage Operations and Operations Business Systems” at healthcare giant Abbott in Los Angeles before finding himself working in the “office of the CEO” under Elon Musk.
After Musk’s longtime chief of staff (officially the director of the office of the CEO), Sam Teller, left in 2019, Afshar was seen as taking over that role by many people working under Musk at his many companies, but especially Tesla, where Afshar started to lead some projects.
For example, Musk credited Afshar for leading the construction of Gigafactory Texas.
In 2022, Afshar reportedly got in hot water at Tesla.
A report claimed that Afshar was about to be fired from Tesla over a curious controversy where he allegedly placed an order for a “special glass” for a “secret project,” which the automaker’s finance department flagged as suspicious – triggering an internal investigation.
The basis of the investigation was that an employee was using company resources to secure materials for a project that potentially wasn’t related to Tesla.
According to the report, Tesla had already fired employees related to the investigation, and Afshar was going to be next.
The project has been linked to the story that Musk was planning to build himself a glass house near Austin, which was confirmed in his biography by Walter Isaacson, but the project never came to be.
Tesla never disclosed what happened with its internal investigation, but it was later reported that Musk moved Afshar to SpaceX for a while.
Now, he is back at Tesla.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Musk has made Afshar Vice President of operations in North America and Europe, where he will be in charge of sales and manufacturing.
This would make him one of the top execs at Tesla. Tom Zhu, Tesla’s longtime head of operations in China, was given those responsibilities since last year, and had unofficially become Musk’s “number 2” at Tesla, but we reported earlier this year, that Zhu went back to lead operations in China.
Zhu is still one of only three executives listed by Tesla as the top leaders on its website, alongside Musk and CFO Vaibhav Taneja. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Afshar show up there soon.
Afshar’s direct reports reportedly include Troy Jones, a 14-year veteran at Tesla and longtime leader of the North American sales and service operations, and Jason Shawhan, the director of manufacturing for Tesla at Giga Texas.
Larger Leadership shake-up at Tesla
Tesla has lost a lot of top leadership over the last year. Many were part of a large wave of layoffs earlier this year and others left on their own since.
Tesla's 'deep bench strenght' took a bit hit in just a year.
Elon said there were too many people on stage. He meant it. pic.twitter.com/qvAiwBP0F4
— Fred Lambert (@FredericLambert) May 1, 2024
Electrek tracks hires and departures closely at Tesla, and we haven’t seen a lot of the formers at top levels lately, but that’s not entirely unusual, as Tesla likes to promote within.
Musk does like loyalty, and we now learn that he has promoted some of his top lieutenants at Tesla beyond Afshar.
Ashok Elluswamy, the longtime head of software for Tesla Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) programs, has been promoted to vice president of Autopilot and AI software. Elluswamy has been at Tesla for a decade and he has been one of the top figures in Tesla’s ADAS programs for the past 5 years.
Milan Kovac, who has also held top roles in Tesla’s autonomous driving programs, has been promoted to Vice President of Optimus, a program that he has been leading for the past two years.
Electrek’s Take
For better or worse, Elon has made clear that self-driving and humanoid robots are the top priorities at Tesla now. Therefore, it makes sense that some of the people leading those programs are now becoming the top executives at the company.
As for Afshar, that’s quite a rise. His new role definitely makes him one of the top execs at Tesla, which is interesting considering he was reportedly in hot water at Tesla just 2 years ago. One might even be forgiven for thinking that Musk could be grooming him to eventually replace him as CEO of Tesla, a role that he previously he didn’t want to hold forever.
Honestly, my main concern with Tesla’s leadership is similar to my concern with Tesla’s board; they are either too close to Elon or too caught up in his cult of personality.
But now that people like Ashok are taking on bigger leadership roles at Tesla, it would be interesting to see if they get a bigger public voice. I’d like to see Ashok, who is working on FSD every day, give us timelines and data on what is happening instead of Elon.
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Starting at under $35,000 with up to 319 miles of range, class-leading tech, and more, the Chevy Equinox EV is hard to beat. But, is “America’s most affordable 315+ miles range EV,” really the best value?
The Chevy Equinox EV wins best value electric vehicle
The fastest-growing EV brand in the US is not Tesla or Rivian, it’s Chevy, largely thanks to the electric Equinox. After launching the lower-priced LT model last year, starting at just $34,995, Chevy’s electric SUV has been flying off the lot.
GM expects the Chevy Equinox EV will be the third top-selling electric vehicle in the US in 2025, behind the Tesla Model Y and Model 3.
Considering what it offers, the electric Equinox is hard to beat, but is it really the best value? According to Cars.com, it is. The online marketplace released its latest Top EV picks ahead of the Federal EV tax credit, set to expire on September 30, naming the 2025 Chevy Equinox EV the best value electric vehicle.
The online car-shopping marketplace sifted through the 77 EV models now available, naming the best for 2026 across value, usability, performance, and technology.
Other top EV picks included the 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 5 for best 2-Row SUV, the 2026 Kia EV9 for best 3-Row SUV, and the 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 6 for top electric car.
The 2026 Lucid Air was named the top luxury EV, while the 2026 Chevy Silverado EV took the title for top electric pickup truck.
“The federal EV tax credit helped make EVs more affordable, and while its expiration at the end of September may slow demand in the short term, it doesn’t mean the end of affordable EVs,” Aaron Bragman, Detroit Bureau Chief at Cars.com, explained.
Many automakers, including Chevy, Nissan, and Hyundai, are planning to launch lower-priced electric vehicles, while several state and local incentives will remain.
| 2025 Chevy Equinox EV trim | Starting Price | EPA-estimated Range | Monthly lease Price (September 2025) |
| LT FWD | $34,995 | 319 miles | $249 |
| LT AWD | $40,295 | 307 miles | $319 |
| RS FWD | $45,790 | 319 miles | $324 |
| RS AWD | $49,090 | 307 miles | $367 |
With leases starting at just $249 per month, the Chevy Equinox EV is hard to match right now. Chevy is offering pretty significant discounts across its entire EV lineup, including a $10,000 bonus on most models and 0% APR financing on any 2025 model year EV.
The Equinox EV is not only one of the most affordable to lease, but it’s also one of the cheapest to insure. According to a recent study from Insurify, the Chevy Blazer and Equinox are the most affordable EVs to insure.
If you’re looking to grab the savings while they are still available, we can help you get started. You can use our links below to find deals on the top electric vehicles in your area.
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EV Realty just broke ground on its first big truck charging hub in San Bernardino, California. The site sits in a prime location: by the San Bernardino Intermodal Facility, 60 million square feet of warehouse space, and Interstates 10 and 215 – a major freight route from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The hub will pack 9.9 megawatts of grid capacity and 76 DC fast charging ports, including megawatt charging pull-through stalls designed for big rigs. It’s built to serve regional and short-haul fleet customers in the Inland Empire metropolitan area, a hotspot for logistics and home to nearly 17,000 medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
EV Realty’s California charging hub is backed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. It has a conditional award from California’s EnergIIZE Commercial Vehicles Project, funded by the California Energy Commission. It’s scheduled to open later this year.
EV Realty also announced today that it’s secured another $75 million in growth equity from private equity firm NGP, with contributions from the company’s management team. The funding will help scale its Powered Properties portfolio, including construction of the San Bernardino hub.
Founded in 2022, EV Realty is focused on delivering turnkey, scalable charging solutions for commercial truck fleets. Last month, it partnered with Prologis to give drivers charging access across both networks. Earlier this year, EV Realty acquired a portfolio of assets from charging provider Gage Zero.
Read more: Greenlane launches a second long-haul EV truck corridor pilot
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Solid-state EV batteries will be here before you know it, Mercedes-backed Farasis Energy claims. During a recent investor meeting, Farasis said it will begin delivering solid-state EV batteries by the end of 2025.
Farasis Energy will deliver solid-state EV batteries in 2025
The new battery tech, promising to unlock more driving range, faster charging, and longer life-spans, is finally moving from the lab to the real world.
Farasis Energy confirmed during the meeting, held on September 15, that its all-solid-state EV batteries are now entering pilot production and delivery. The company is building a 0.2 GWh pilot line for the new sulfide-based solid-state batteries, with deliveries set to begin by the end of 2025.
In a filing released the following day, viewed by IT Home, the company said it’s fully committed to bringing the new battery tech to market.
Farasis uses a high-nickel ternary cathode and a high-silicon anode, claiming an energy density of 400 to 500 Wh/kg.
The report said R&D has progressed “smoothly,” and the company plans to begin deliveries by the end of 2025. Initially, they will be delivered in small batches to select customers.
Meanwhile, Farasis’ second-gen sulfide-based all-solid-state EV batteries are moving past the tech development phase. The second-gen batteries have an energy density of 500 Wh/kg, which would be among the highest in the industry. It’s expected to roll out in 2026.
In 2027, the company plans to launch the third-generation, promising to unlock an energy density of over 500 Wh/kg.
The report claims that the semi-solid-state batteries only cost 5% to 10% more than liquid batteries, and Farasis expects shipments to ramp up significantly next year.
Just this year, Farasis Energy said it has secured new clients, including XPeng, GAC Group, and “a leading domestic new energy commercial vehicle client” for its core products, SPS (Super Pouch Solution) batteries, and semi-solid state batteries.
The company plans to expand overseas and into new segments, including humanoid robots. Farasis is already using all-solid-state batteries in humanoid robots and has sent samples to leading humanoid robot companies.
Mercedes-Benz bought a stake in Farasis Energy in 2020 to secure battery supply for its upcoming electric vehicles.
The news comes after Mercedes announced just last week that it drove an EQS, equipped with solid-state batteries, from Stuttgart, Germany, to Malmö, Sweden, covering 750 miles (1,205 km). Mercedes said the vehicle still had another 85 miles of range to go. US-based Factorial Energy supplied the battery cells.
Mercedes’ tech boss, Markus Schäfer, called solid-state batteries “a true gamechanger” for electric vehicles. Schäfer added the new battery tech “delivers not only in the lab but also on the road.”
Farasis Energy, Mercedes-Benz, and Factorial Energy are just a few of the companies racing to unlock the “holy grail” of EV batteries. Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis, and Honda, to name a few, are aiming to launch solid-state batteries by the end of the decade. BYD and CATL are reportedly aiming for around 2027.
Earlier this week, SK On said it plans to commercialize all-solid-state batteries by 2029, a year ahead of schedule.
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