After firing its entire Supercharger team, Tesla has sent out an email to suppliers which shows just how chaotic the decisionmaking leading up to the firings must have been.
When the firings were announced Monday night, there was little information about how they would affect Tesla’s plans.
On Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that “Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations.” According to Tesla’s website, Superchargers currently have 99.95% uptime.
But in the interim, we’ve already heard about Supercharger projects being cancelled, including halting rollout in the entire country of Australia, including sites that had already been subject to long-term leases and given the go-ahead for construction which will now be abandoned.
And Tesla has also sent out an email to all of its suppliers, which leaked to the internet. Here it is in full, but with contact information redacted:
To all concerned:
You may be aware that there has been a recent adjustment with the Supercharger organization which is presently undergoing a sudden and thorough restructuring. If you have already received this email, please disregard it as we are attempting to connect with our suppliers and contractors. As part of this process, we are in the midst of establishing new leadership roles, prioritizing projects, and streamlining our payment procedures. Due to the transitional nature of this phase, we are asking for your patience with our response time.
I understand that this period of change may be challenging and that patience is not easy when expecting to be paid, however, I want to express my sincere appreciation for your understanding and support as we navigate through this transition. At this time, please hold on breaking ground on any newly awarded construction projects and planned pre-construction walks. If currently working on an active Supercharging construction site, please continue. Contact [email redacted] for further questions, comments, and concerns. Additionally, hold on working on any new material orders. Contact [email redacted] for further questions, comments, and concerns. If waiting on delayed payment, please contact [email redacted] for a status update. Thank you for your cooperation and patience.
The email is remarkable for several reasons, largely because it shows a lack of structure and consideration to the decision to fire the entire team.
Firstly, Tesla states that it is “attempting” to connect with suppliers and that it may have sent multiple emails to some of them. This suggests that Tesla doesn’t have an established method of contact for all of its suppliers – either it doesn’t have a master contact list, or its previous method including points of contact within Tesla is not usable because, well, those points of contact would have been fired.
Second, it says that the “adjustment” (an odd word for firing an entire department) has led to a process of establishing new leadership roles. This is typically something that a company would consider before changing leaders, and ensure that there are current employees with experience who are ready to step up to take the position of a retiring leader, perhaps with a period of mentorship prior to the outgoing leader’s retirement.
Even in a situation where a firing is sudden, it’s typically reasonable to elevate a previous second-in-command to fill the void. This is why it’s beneficial to have a deep bench – something which Tesla has touted before.
Third, Tesla goes on to mention that these suppliers are “expecting to be paid,” which suggests that Tesla is likely to welch on its payment obligations, at least in the short term. We have seen Musk refuse to pay bills before, so mention of skipping out on payment must raise alarm bells for suppliers who have been working in good faith with Tesla.
Finally, Tesla asks for suppliers to continue construction on active projects, but to hold on breaking ground or doing pre-construction site walks. This could be considered unclear, as there are many parallel steps to approval, permitting and construction of sites, so it’s hard to set a single line that is easily communicated about which sites should continue and which sites shouldn’t. Presumably, site contacts within Tesla would be able to reach out to individual sites and tell them whether to continue construction or not – if they were still working there, which it seems they are not.
To ask for patience is reasonable when an unforeseen circumstance hits a company, but this is not an unforeseen circumstance – it is entirely self-inflicted by Tesla.
Other charging providers have reacted to Tesla’s disruption of its own Supercharger plans, with at least one company, Revel, suggesting that it’s ready to swoop in on “really good sites” that Tesla left on the table, particularly in Revel’s home in New York City.
Electrek’s Take
We have heard from several sources who told us that the reason for these firings is because Rebecca Tinucci, former head of Tesla’s EV Charging division, resisted Musk’s demand to fire large portions of her team.
While this is hearsay, it’s plausible considering the language in Musk’s letter announcing the firings – which claimed that some executives are not taking headcount reduction seriously, and made a point to say that executives who retain the wrong employees may see themselves and their whole teams cut. It isn’t a stretch to think that Musk included those demands since they were related to his firing of Tinucci and her team.
The Supercharging team was one of the more successful and crucial teams within Tesla, and many observers consider the Supercharger network to be Tesla’s primary “moat” that makes it better than the competition. Tinucci was also responsible for negotiating NACS agreements across the industry, leading to a huge win when Tesla’s plug became the de facto standard after basically every automaker adopted it over the course of the last year.
Superchargers are also incredibly important, especially in North America. In Europe there are more successful non-Tesla charge providers, but in NA, Tesla is the big dog. And if infrastructure is important, then Tesla pulling back is bad not just for Tesla but for EVs as a whole.
This is not a good look for the North American EV charging infrastructure after the inevitable slowdown in Superchargers due to Elon’s rash decision to fire the entire charging team. pic.twitter.com/1JTYsO92TU
It seems abundantly clear that, whatever explanation we accept, the firing of the Supercharger team was not well-considered (and our readers seem to agree). Even if headcount reduction is necessary, the whole team shouldn’t be laid off. Even if it was necessary as a retaliatory measure – which would not be a good rationale – it still would be wiser to retain some part of it so as to avoid the chaos suggested by the email above.
Whatever mechanism led to the firing, it does fit into a pattern of increasingly erratic behavior that Musk has been showing lately.
Many possible explanations have been advanced to explain this behavior, and most of them don’t increase my personal faith that Musk will make the right decisions with Tesla.
Tesla is one of the few entities that is large enough and committed enough to dragging those timelines forward, whether the rest of the industry likes it or not. We need a healthy Tesla, and for that, we need steadier management. This email is not an example of that – and neither are most of Musk’s managerial actions recently.
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The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N is finally here, and it delivers. Hyundai’s electric sports car is loaded with fun new features, a sleek design (including a massive rear wing), 641 horsepower, and much more.
Meet the Hyundai IONIQ 6 N
After teasing the new model for the first time last month, Hyundai created quite a buzz. Now, we are finally getting our first look at the upgraded high-performance EV.
Hyundai unveiled the new IONIQ 6 N at the famed Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday in West Sussex, England. The upgraded model follows Hyundai’s first high-performance EV, the IONIQ 5 N.
At the event, the company boasted that its new electric sports car marks “a pivotal milestone in Hyundai N’s electrification journey,” adding “Hyundai N is once again redefining the boundaries of high-performance electrification with the debut of the IONIQ 6 N.”
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The IONIQ 6 N delivers an impressive 641 horsepower (478 kW) and 77 Nm of torque, enabling a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) sprint in just 3.2 seconds. Its top speed is about 160 mph (257 km/h).
Hyundai IONIQ 6 N (Source: Hyundai)
That’s when using Hyundai’s Launch Control, one of the many performance features the new EV offers. Like its other N models, the IONIQ 6 is based on three pillars: Corner Rascal, Racetrack Capability, and, of course, an Everyday Sportscar.
Powered by two electric motors, a 223 hp (166 kW) at the front and another 378 hp (282 kW) motor at the rear, for a combined 600 hp (448 kW).
Hyundai IONIQ 6 N (Source: Hyundai)
Redefining the EV driving experience
The upgraded IONIQ 6 “redefines the EV driving experience,” according to Hyundai, thanks to its advanced in-house vehicle control software.
Central to this is Hyundai’s N Active Sound + system, which mimics the feel and sound of a traditional engine. An added N e-Shift simulates shifting gears.
Hyundai IONIQ 6 N interior (Source: Hyundai)
And that’s just the start. Other performance features, such as N Drift Optimizer, N Grin Boost, and N Torque Distribution, give you even more control over the vehicle while delivering increased power.
The IONIQ 6 N is powered by an 84 kWh battery, providing a WLTP range of up to 291 miles (469 km). However, EPA figures will be revealed closer to launch. Given the IONIQ 5 N has an EPA-estimated range of up to 221 miles, you can expect it to be slightly higher when it arrives.
With a 350 kW DC fast charger, Hyundai’s new performance EV can recharge from 10% to 80% in about 18 minutes.
With a length of 4,935 mm, a width of 1,940 mm, and a height of 1,495 mm, the IONIQ 6 N is about the size of the Porsche Taycan.
Hyundai will showcase the new high-performance EV during the hillclimb event alongside other models like the IONIQ 5 N, IONIQ 6 N Drift Spec, and IONIQ 6 N with N Performance parts. Hyundai promises each vehicle brings unique capabilities to the event, “guaranteeing a dynamic and thrilling on-track experience for all attendees.” Check back soon for more info.
What do you think of Hyundai’s new electric sports car? Would you buy one over the Porsche Taycan? Let us know in the comments.
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Elon Musk said that Tesla owners will “soon” have access to Grok, a large language developed by Musk’s xAI startup, days after the AI started calling itself ‘MechaHitler’.
Yesterday, xAI launched Grok 4, the latest version of its large language model.
The new model is benchmarking very well, but that’s generally the case with the latest model to come out. It edges the latest models from Google and OpenAI on intelligence by a few points, but it falls behind on speed:
At the launch event, Musk announced that Grok will “soon” be integrated into Tesla vehicles.
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This is something that the CEO has been discussing since founding xAI, which has been controversial because Musk has also positioned Tesla to compete in the AI space. He even stepped down from his role at OpenAI due to a “conflict of interest with Tesla.”
The announcement of the imminent integration of Grok into Tesla vehicles comes just days after the language model went haywire on X and started praising Hitler, referring to itself as ‘MechaHitler’, and made several antisemitic comments.
xAI acknowledge the issue and put Grok on timeout while they fixed it:
We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.
The “bug” came just a few weeks after Musk stated that he was displeased with Grok supporting left-wing narratives, even though it didn’t say anything inncurate, and that he would update Grok to “fix” it.
Now, the large language model (LLM) is expected to power the new voice assistant inside Tesla vehicles.
LLMs are becoming quite common in cars, especially premium vehicles. Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and a few others have all integrated Chat-GPT in some models.
Many Chinese automakers have also developed their own and deployed them in cars, even entry-level ones.
Tesla is playing catch up on that front.
Electrek’s Take
As I have previously stated, I think Musk is setting up Tesla to invest or even merge with xAI at a ridiculous valuation – making Tesla shareholders virtually pay twice for Twitter, which is now part of xAI.
This is how he will be able to gain wider control over the company’s share.
From the first discovery in Prudhoe Bay in 1968, Alaskans have had a love-hate relationship with oil.
On one hand, it allowed Alaska to abolish its state income tax, fund most government operations and provide every Alaskan with a dividend that continues to this day. On the other hand, it has left the state at the near total mercy of the global oil market.
In recent years, that has proven to be a bad bet. And it is the major reason Alaska finishes at the bottom of the CNBC America’s Top States for Business rankings in 2025.
With the price of Alaska North Slope crude oil down by double digits from a year ago, according to the Alaska Department of Revenue, Alaska has America’s worst economy as measured by the CNBC study. Economy is the heaviest-weighted category under this year’s methodology.
More coverage of the 2025 America’s Top States for Business
Alaska’s gross domestic product growth is in the bottom ten nationally. The state’s economy grew by just 1.5% last year, compared to 2.8% nationally.
More crucially, the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget is based on a forecast of $68 per barrel for crude oil, and it is unclear if that will hold. Alaska North Slope crude traded as low as $63.49 on May 5 before rebounding above $70 in recent weeks. State forecasters are counting on oil for around 70% of the state’s revenue over the next ten years, or nearly half the state’s operating budget. And some localities are far more dependent.
“When you look at the economic engine by default,” North Slope Borough Mayor Josiah Patkotak told CNBC last month, “That happens to be oil and gas by about 98% of our operating budget.”
$40 billion bet on natural gas as diversifier
For decades, Alaska has sought ways to diversify its economy, but it has had limited success. Proposals have involved alternative energy, agriculture, and the state’s tourism sector.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference at his office in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. March 22, 2022.
Yereth Rosen | Reuters
In 2023, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, signed legislation to put Alaska into the carbon market, using the state’s vast public lands for carbon storage, and to generate carbon offset credits for high carbon emitters in other states. But the program is still in the study phase. A report to the legislature in January said the program is not expected to generate any revenue until at least 2027.
More recently, the Trump administration is backing a proposal to build a natural gas pipeline alongside the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, allowing the U.S. to ship liquid natural gas — a byproduct of North Slope oil production — to Asia.
The idea has been around for years, but the price tag, estimated at around $40 billion, was impossible for the industry to swallow even when petroleum prices were high.
Now, however, administration officials think that trade tensions might change the economics.
“There [are] countries around the world looking to shrink their trade deficit with the United States, and of course, a very easy way to do that is to buy more American energy,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in Prudhoe Bay last month.
“If you get the commercial offtakers for the gas, financing is pretty straightforward,” Wright said.
If the project gets off the ground, it could provide a huge boost to Alaska’s economy, though it would still be at the mercy of commodity prices.
Lack of tech infrastructure, high costs
Alaska’s struggling economy is a major reason for its poor competitive performance, but it is not the only one.
The state ranks No. 49 in Infrastructure. While the state’s roads and bridges are in better shape than in many states in the Lower 48, its virtual infrastructure leaves much to be desired. Fewer than 2% of Alaskans have access to affordable broadband service, according to BroadbandNow Research. The data center boom has passed Alaska by thus far, with only four in the entire state.
Alaska is a notoriously expensive place to live, especially in the many remote parts of the state.
“When you’re paying 16 bucks a gallon for milk, we’ve got to figure out how to make sure that you can afford to buy the milk so you can live here. We’ve got to make sure you can afford to buy the gas so you can hunt here,” said Patkotak.
But one aspect of life is a bargain in Alaska. At a time of soaring homeowner premiums, online insurance marketplace Insurify projects Alaska homeowners insurance premiums will average $1,543 this year, the second lowest in the nation.
Join the conversation. Didn’t see your state mentioned? You can see where it ranked overall, and in all 10 categories of competitiveness, in the full rankings of the 2025 America’s Top States for Business.