Familiar says Revel is less concerned about the material effects of Tesla’s firing than the “cultural impact, adding to the pessimism around electric vehicles recently.”
New York City officials seem confident that someone will fill the Tesla-sized charging gap. The city’s programs ensure “that any supplier doing business in New York City has a reliable and growing customer base, and one supplier backing out of a lease is a great opportunity for another to do so. especially if that site is ready to go,” a spokesperson said. Jason Kersten, a representative of the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission, said in a statement.
In Maspeth, Gordon says he has already heard from several charging companies interested in leasing the land that was once designated for Superchargers.
power puzzle
In recent months, the Tesla Supercharger network has been cited as a bright spot at a company concerned about new competition from Chinese auto companies and traditional automakers, questions about the weakening electric vehicle market, falling revenues and, more recently, a series of ongoing layoffs. . Tesla customers have said that the company’s public charging stations are generally reliable and well-maintained, and are a great selling point for curious Tesla buyers. Last summer, the energy research organization BloombergNEF predicted that Tesla could generate $7.4 billion in fee revenue at the end of the decade, representing profits of about 740 million dollars, which is not a negligible business for an automobile manufacturer.
At the time of the reported layoffs, Tesla’s prosecution team had just struck a decisive blow by convincing the entire American auto industry to use its plug. In return, Tesla offered other automakers (and their customers) a public charging network that is remarkably reliable and well-developed, especially when compared to the poorer records of its closest charging rivals.
In financial documents filed last week, Tesla previewed its expansion plans for its charging network. As other automakers adopt the Tesla plug, “we must expand our network accordingly to ensure adequate availability to meet customer demands,” the company wrote.
Last fall, Tesla officially handed over work on the plug standard to the Society of Automotive Engineers, a global standards organization. Jeff Laskowski, a spokesman for the group, said work to finalize that plug standard was “underway” and was expected to be completed by the end of this year.
It is not unusual for companies that receive government grants to change direction or return them, sources involved in giving out government grants told WIRED. In statements and interviews, those involved in building, selling and developing electric vehicle charging said Tesla’s sudden change of course on charging could affect the near-term future of public charging infrastructure, but not the transition. long-term electricity.
A spokesperson for the federal Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, the authority that oversees electric vehicle infrastructure in the U.S., said that because each individual state runs a competitive process to choose who will build electric vehicle networks. load, “we do not expect individual commercial decisions. to impact electric vehicle charging projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act,” the 2021 federal legislation that earmarked money for charging infrastructure.
Industry players said that while Tesla’s move was highly unexpected, it could indicate that the automaker believes other charging companies have caught up to them and are ready to take on the responsibility (and capital costs) of building the network that will generate electrical energy. the cars go.
Competitors said the abrupt change could even be an opportunity. In a statement, Sara Rafalson, senior vice president of policy and market development at charging company EVgo, said her company would soon begin incorporating Tesla plugs into its chargers. “We welcome the opportunity to serve more Tesla vehicles and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all electric vehicle models,” she said.
