DETROIT, April 30 - Elon Musk's abrupt decision to lay off employees who ran Tesla's electric vehicle charging business blindsided automakers gearing up to equip new EVs for customers to use the Tesla Supercharger network, industry officials and analysts said on Tuesday.and other automakers which struck deals last year to give customers access to the network said they are not changing their plans.
"Tesla has already been awarded money under the federal government's NEVI program," he said, referring to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program to provide funding to states to deploy EV charging networks. "There's no way Mr. Musk would walk away from effectively free money. It may be possible Mr. Musk will reconstitute the EV charger team in bigger, badder, more Muskian way.
However, Musk made clear in a call with analysts earlier this month that he is focused on opportunities in artificial intelligence, robotics and "Tesla is looking to right size its and operating expenses over the next couple of years as the company is in a slower growth phase," Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said.