Tesla has advised customers in Australia that they will complete Superchargers currently under construction, but gave no indication of any further expansion once those are complete. The email comes after the company sacked almost everyone who works on their Supercharger network Globally, and following news that planned Supercharger locations in Australia would not proceed.
Clearly the company has been overwhelmed by contact from customers after our story and the reports of the global sackings, however to our mind and based on many messages from Tesla owners, the email today does nothing but confirm that future site plans have been shelved and the supercharger expansion ends after the completion of sites currently under construction.
When addressing the specific concerns about future sites, Tesla says:
Given there is zero assurance outside of projects “currently in construction” there can be little or no faith that the company has any plans to grow outside of the current working and under construction network.
To be fair, that network will still put any other single, or frankly combined charging networks in Australia to shame, but – as a selling point for the brand and the vehicles, it’s far from being a positive message for the future.
If Tesla does have plans to expand the network beyond current construction, it was a very poor choice of words in a mass email to customers. Those who contacted EFTM with the email described it as “Spin” and noted the clear omission of any new sites not already under construction.
All this may be a moot point should the cut backs be a way to clear the balance sheet and reduce costs ahead of a possible sale of the Supercharger network, or separate Stock market float perhaps?
Time will tell – but with Elon, who knows.
