Re:Tesla conducting more layoffs, including entire Superchar...
by cowmix on Tuesday April 30, 2024 @01:47PM
(#40213796)
500+ people to even do the HIGH level bits of running a SC network isn't a lot.
Everyone (even the most strident Tesla haters) agrees that SC is the one thing Tesla does the best, hands down. I own a model Y and tried to use only non-Tesla charging on a long distance trip a few months ago, it was a disaster.
Telsa's charging network is a win on EVERY front:
1. Locations 2. Quantity of locations 3. Quality (high charging rates) 4. User experience / design of hardware - software 5. Realtime reporting and navigation 6. Uptime of network
The SC network is why a lot people consider Tesla who otherwise it would be a big fat no.
Re:Tesla conducting more layoffs, including entire Superchar...
by LUmBULtERA on Tuesday April 30, 2024 @04:13PM
(#40215752)
Same, I'm a new used Model Y owner, and the supercharger infrastructure (existing, expected expansion, and maintenance) was part of the reason I bought it. It would be nice if Musk would provide some rationale of what's going on over there so we know what to expect...
Re:Tesla conducting more layoffs, including entire Superchar...
by matthewdgreen on Tuesday April 30, 2024 @05:23PM
(#40216541)
Tesla's engineering culture around the Supercharger is what makes it viable. They mass produce a custom-designed unit in groups of four, and then ship them from factory directly to job site. None of the other competitors are doing that yet, which is why Tesla has been both more profitable and more reliable. Maybe that culture will survive the layoffs, but it's a fast growing business with a ton of complicated engineering work to do.
Re:Tesla conducting more layoffs, including entire Superchar...
by supportengineer on Tuesday April 30, 2024 @05:39PM
(#40216681)
I wonder how many encryption certs are in the Supercharger environment and what will happen if they aren't maintained.
To build and run a charger network you need people for at least these things:
• To design the stations (including the charging equipment (hardware and software), landscaping, buildings)
• To manufacture the charging equipment
• To decide at a high level were to put stations, and at a lower level to find specific sites, buy or lease those sites, and go through whatever legal process is needed to be allowed to build there.
• To deal with electric utilities to get power to the site.
• To do the actual building at the site, including preparing the land, maybe paving, installing the chargers, hooking up to the incoming power, putting up signage, etc
• To maintain it. It will need regular cleaning and trash pickup. Someone should be checking regularly for problems that won't be found by whatever remote monitoring and diagnostics they have. When a problem is found, manually or by there remote monitoring, someone has to go fix it.
• To provide customer support.
If you do all of them in house you need a large team. But a lot of them are reasonably done by hiring another company to do them in which case you might not need a large in house team.
I'd guess that they do the first (design), part of the second (assemble the charging equipment from components they have custom built by other companies), the high level location planning.
I'd guess that the lower level part of site placement is done by local firms familiar with the area that Tesla hires, that dealing with the electric company and the actual building is done by a local general contractor and whatever subcontractors that general contractor uses.
I'd guess that the cleaning and on site checking for problems is handled by a local maintenance company. Fixing problems would either be a local company or someone Tesla sends depending on what it is that needs fixing.
Customer support would likely be Tesla.
If Tesla considers that their existing Supercharger station designs are good enough to continue using for a long time for new stations, then they might really only need to keep in house the high level decision of were to put them, charger repairs, customer support, and hiring the local companies that do the field work.