Benzinga - by Anan Ashraf, Benzinga Editor.
Spring is ending, and General Motors Co‘s (NYSE:GM) EV owners will likely soon gain access to Tesla Inc‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) supercharging network in North America despite the EV giant’s plan to slow down expansion on the heels of mass layoffs.
What Happened: Tesla, on its website, says that GM, Volvo, and Swedish EV maker Polestar Automotive (NASDAQ:PSNY) will gain access to its supercharging network in Spring 2024.
The timeline, announced earlier this year, turned doubtful when Tesla laid off 500 employees from its supercharging team in April.
GM’s director of global strategic technology communications, Sanaz Marbley, however, confirmed to InsideEVs on Thursday that the company is sticking to the timeline.
“We plan to stick to the timeline that we previously announced, and that’s kind of all I can say,” she told the news platform. “I think spring 2024 is accurate.”
But Polestar is not so sure. “The timeline has been adjusted to later this summer, but we don't have further details to share at this time,” a Polestar representative told PCMag.
Layoffs Create Doubts: Ford Motor, Co. and Rivian Automotive, Inc. gained access to the network earlier this year, giving their EV drivers the option to charge at over 15,000 Tesla supercharger stalls across North America. While Volvo, GM, and Polestar were expected to follow, Tesla announced layoffs of at least 10% of its global workforce in April.
The layoffs impacted 500 members of the supercharging team. Tesla Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure Rebecca Tinucci also left the company, leaving the timeline for the opening of the supercharging network to more rivals in question.
Despite the layoffs, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla plans to expand the Supercharger network, albeit at a slower pace. He also stated that Tesla would spend over $500 million to create thousands of new chargers this year.
GM told PCMag that the company is continuing to monitor the situation regarding changes to the supercharger team and the potential impacts on the partnership between the two companies.
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