Environment

Tesla officially appeals judge’s decision on Elon Musk’s compensation package

Published

5 months ago

January 8, 2025

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Tesla has officially filed its appeal against the Delaware judge’s decision on Elon Musk’s compensation package.

It’s heading to the state’s Supreme Court.

For a full context of the case, you can read our last article on Judge McCormick rejecting Tesla’s claim that the new shareholder would ratify the compensation package and force her to vacate her decision to void the pay package.

Last month, Judge McCormick rejected Tesla’s ratification argument, which she explained goes against settled law, and she also found other “multiple, material misstatements in the proxy statement” of the new vote.

Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk were upset at the ruling and the latter went as far as calling up “corruption” without offering any evidence.

As expected, Tesla has now appealed the ruling with the Delaware Supreme Court.

The automaker is insisting on trying to get the same $55 billion compensation package approved based on the argument that the judge is taking away shareholders’ right to decide for themselves.

However, this is based on Tesla completely rejecting all the judge’s findings regarding how Tesla is misleading shareholders about how the package was negotiated and presented to shareholders.

Electrek’s Take

As I wrote last summer, Elon Musk’s compensation package case will haunt Tesla for years. Even if you believe Musk deserves this package, Tesla’s approach to reinstating it was boneheaded and didn’t follow the law as I, and seemingly the judge and most Delaware corporate law experts, understand it.

Tesla, and more specifically Elon Musk, it’s hard to differentiate the two lately, which is part of the problem, are showing no intention to address their governance issues.

Let’s be clear: Elon could get paid somewhat easily here. Even as much or close to this amount. However, it needs to do it through the proper governance and respect the process.

Instead, Elon prefers to lie to shareholders and present the situation as politically motivated lawfare. It’s nonsense.

Now, it’s going to the Supreme Court and there’s a chance that nothing will change.

There’s an easy solution. Recognize the issues highlighted by the judge, address them, and present an updated compensation package to shareholders that takes into account the governance issue and that reduces the package proportionally to the cost of this entire mess to Tesla.

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Environment

Podcast: EV/Solar killing bill moves forward, Elon lies about Tesla’s demand, cheaper EVs, and more

Published

4 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Podcast: EV/Solar killing bill moves forward, Elon lies about Tesla's demand, cheaper EVs, and more

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the EV/Solar killing bill moving forward, Elon lying about Tesla’s demand, cheaper EVs coming, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

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We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET)

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Environment

Circle K just opened a new spot exclusively for EV charging with no gas pumps in sight

Published

5 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Circle K just opened a new spot exclusively for EV charging with no gas pumps in sight

This is what the future of travel will look like. Circle K opened its first location exclusively for EV charging in Europe. The site features ten ultra-fast EV chargers and a convenience store while you wait.

Circle K opens first EV charging-only site in Europe

The new EV charging hub is located in Gårda, near Gothenburg, Sweden. It’s Circle K’s largest EV charging-only location with ten 400 kW chargers that can recharge from 0 to 80% in around 15 minutes.

Kempower supplied two 600 kW Power Units and ten Single Satellite chargers that can deliver up to 400 kW of power.

With an improved version of Kempower’s Autocharge feature, the system can store your information so that the next time you visit, all you have to do is plug in. The system will recognize your vehicle and bill you automatically.

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While you wait, there’s a 1,076 ft² (100 m²) convenience store that offers “a complete retail experience,” offering food, drinks, Wi-Fi, and plenty of seating.

The site expects heavy traffic on Sweden’s E6, with over 10,000 vehicles travelling on the motorway daily.

The new EV charging-only site comes after Circle K opened its largest EV charging hub in Sweden. Located just southwest of Stockholm, the flagship location has 26 fast chargers that can be used with light and heavy-duty vehicles.

Circle K now has over 3,000 branded chargers across Europe and will continue adding to its network as demand for EV charging rises.

With around 17,000 locations globally, the company said it’s “uniquely positioned” to support the transition to electric vehicles.

Will we see Circle K open a location exclusively for EVs in the US? As more electric cars hit the road, more charging options will be needed. A few convenience stores, including 7-Eleven, are already rolling out fast chargers. Through 7Charge, 7-Eleven aims to build “one of the largest and most compatible” EV fast charging networks of any retailer in North America.

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Environment

Trump signs orders to overhaul Nuclear Regulatory Commission, speed reactor deployment

Published

5 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Trump signs orders to overhaul Nuclear Regulatory Commission, speed reactor deployment

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2025.

Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday to overhaul the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and speed the deployment of new nuclear power reactors in the U.S.

The NRC is a 50-year-old, independent agency that regulates the nation’s fleet of nuclear reactors. Trump’s orders call for a “total and complete reform” of the agency, a senior White House official told reporters in a briefing. Under the new rules, the commission will be forced to decide on nuclear reactor licenses within 18 months.

Trump said Friday the orders focus on small, advanced reactors that are viewed by many in the industry as the future. But the president also said his administration supports building large plants.

“We’re also talking about the big plants — the very, very big, the biggest,” Trump said. “We’re going to be doing them also.”

Nuclear executives joined Trump for the signing ceremony, including Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez. Constellation is the largest operator of nuclear plants in the U.S. Nuclear stocks rallied Friday in response to the president’s actions.

NRC overhaul

When asked whether NRC reform will result in staff reductions, the White House official said “there will be turnover and changes in roles.”

“Total reduction in staff is undetermined at this point, but the executive orders do call for a substantial reorganization” of the agency, the official said. The orders, however, will not remove or replace any of the five commissioners who lead the body, according to the White House.

Any reduction in staff at the NRC would come at time when the commission faces a heavy workload. The agency is currently reviewing whether two mothballed nuclear plants, Palisades in Michigan and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, should restart operations, a historic and unprecedented process.

U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Joseph Dominguez, President and Chief Executive Officer of Constellation, speaks in the Oval Office on the day Trump is expected to sign executive orders, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 23, 2025.

Kent Nishimura | Reuters

Dominguez said the nuclear industry’s biggest problem has been regulatory delay. Constellation is aiming to bring the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island back online in 2028 after it closed for economic reasons. A separate reactor, Unit 2, was the site of a partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979.

“We’re wasting too much time on permitting and we’re answering silly questions, not the important ones,” the Constellation CEO said.

Trump’s orders also create a regulatory framework for the Departments of Energy and Defense to build nuclear reactors on federal land, the administration official said.

“This allows for safe and reliable nuclear energy to power and operate critical defense facilities and AI data centers,” the official told reporters. The NRC will not have a direct role, as the departments will use separate authorities under their control to authorize reactor construction for national security purposes, the official said.

Boost uranium mining

The president’s orders also aim to jump start the mining of uranium in the U.S. and expand domestic uranium enrichment capacity, the official said. Trump’s actions also aim to speed up reactor testing at the Department of Energy’s national laboratories.

Investment in nuclear power is growing in the U.S. after a long period of financial turmoil for the industry, including the shutdown of a dozen reactors in recent years as the industry struggled to compete against cheap and abundant natural gas.

The cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

Building new nuclear plants in the U.S. is notoriously slow and expensive. The two new reactors that recently came online at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia took seven years longer-than-planned to build, and came in $18 billion over budget.

But the computer technology industry is now driving the revival in nuclear as it races to meet growing electricity demand from data centers used to drive artificial intelligence. Three Mile Island is expected to return to service with financial support from Microsoft, for example, and Alphabet and Amazon are investing in small, advanced reactors.