WSJ: After Layoffs, Tesla’s Supercharger Expansion Slows

[Rivianready]

https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/...a?st=s2kXX1&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

I'm wondering if the slow roll out of adaptors is intentional. While opening up the Network to non-Teslas has gotten them Federal money, could they be buying time by slowing delivery of adaptors so they cut down on congestion?

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[Dark-Fx]

WSJ? Just another disinformation pieces. -Tesla fanboy.

 

[jjswan33]

At least in middle America congestion at SC stations doesn’t appear to be an issue. In the last two weeks I’ve been on the road only a station in Idaho Springs CO was near full and it was partially because I was taking two spots.

California may be a different case

 

[DuoRivians]

 

[VSG]

I'm wondering if the slow roll out of adaptors is intentional.

I don't accept the common wisdom that there has been a "slow rollout" of adapters. As far as I'm concerned, the rollout has been going exactly as expected and predicted. Rivian has shipped maybe as many as 40,000 adapters so far (people with May 2023 delivery dates are now getting them), and the production (Tesla) has ramped significantly. Rivian owners are in a far better position than any of the dozen other manufacturers who are promised adapters but haven't gotten them yet.

I mean, what did you expect when Rivian and Ford and all the others promised the adapters would be shipped out starting as early as Spring 2024? "Starting as early as" means "no sooner than". Did you really expect that everyone would receive one within a few months? There are something like 1 million vehicles out there, from Rivian, Ford, and all the others, that have been promised adapters. It's going to take time, and we knew last year it was going to take time. I don't get why everyone is pissed that they haven't gotten their free adapter yet.

That said, Tesla has NEVER been eager to open the supercharger network - they could have done that anytime over the past 10 years if they really wanted to. Tesla is clearly capable of making this rollout a priority and making it really fast, but it's also clear that they have business and other interests that argue for keeping the network closed. Their exact obligations and timings under the adapter agreement with manufacturers are unknown.

To me, the interesting fact in that article is that Francis Energy is getting more money than any other company, including Tesla, for charger buildout. I wonder how that's going to turn out for everyone.

 

[Jonger1150]

WSJ? Just another disinformation pieces. -Tesla fanboy.

Doesn't Murdoch own WSJ?

 

[Rivianready]

Doesn't Murdoch own WSJ?

Yes he does. But he’s largely been hands off. I’ve been reading it for years. Top notch reporting. (I avoid the OpEds.)

 

[Jonger1150]

Yes he does. But he’s largely been hands off. I’ve been reading it for years. Top notch reporting. (I avoid the OpEds.)

Yea, they're really not the primary problems. It's little outlets like the Automotive News, McKinsey, 24/7 Wallstreet....etc. They are probably contracted to write negative EV and renewable pieces.

Case in point

https://www.teslarati.com/mckinsey-survey-46-percent-us-ev-owners-switch-back-ice/

The real answer is somewhere close to 6%.

 

[ohseedee]

At least in middle America congestion at SC stations doesn’t appear to be an issue. In the last two weeks I’ve been on the road only a station in Idaho Springs CO was near full and it was partially because I was taking two spots.

California may be a different case

Looking at my Rivian app in the Los Angeles area, which has a high % of EVs, right now show all Tesla SC has having multiple stalls available. Some large ones have 20+ stalls available. To contrast, I just opened my EA app and almost every site has a "FULL" icon. I've charged at a Tesla SC about 10 times in the past year in Los Angeles and I've never had to wait. Very much anecdotal evidence only, but from my perspective it appears that demand is not greater than supply. So while more is better for drivers, I get why Tesla would want to slow down the massive investment.

 

[djsider2]

I don't accept the common wisdom that there has been a "slow rollout" of adapters. As far as I'm concerned, the rollout has been going exactly as expected and predicted. Rivian has shipped maybe as many as 40,000 adapters so far (people with May 2023 delivery dates are now getting them), and the production (Tesla) has ramped significantly. Rivian owners are in a far better position than any of the dozen other manufacturers who are promised adapters but haven't gotten them yet.

I mean, what did you expect when Rivian and Ford and all the others promised the adapters would be shipped out starting as early as Spring 2024? "Starting as early as" means "no sooner than". Did you really expect that everyone would receive one within a few months? There are something like 1 million vehicles out there, from Rivian, Ford, and all the others, that have been promised adapters. It's going to take time, and we knew last year it was going to take time. I don't get why everyone is pissed that they haven't gotten their free adapter yet.

That said, Tesla has NEVER been eager to open the supercharger network - they could have done that anytime over the past 10 years if they really wanted to. Tesla is clearly capable of making this rollout a priority and making it really fast, but it's also clear that they have business and other interests that argue for keeping the network closed. Their exact obligations and timings under the adapter agreement with manufacturers are unknown.

To me, the interesting fact in that article is that Francis Energy is getting more money than any other company, including Tesla, for charger buildout. I wonder how that's going to turn out for everyone.

Maybe it's just my opinion but these numbers don't seem that big, especially with the amount of pipeline in the system. Do you think this was the fastest they could have done this? There are many levers they could have pulled to manufacturer these things but for some reason, they only chose to apply a limited amount of resources.

 

[strykerwsu]

I don't accept the common wisdom that there has been a "slow rollout" of adapters. As far as I'm concerned, the rollout has been going exactly as expected and predicted. Rivian has shipped maybe as many as 40,000 adapters so far (people with May 2023 delivery dates are now getting them), and the production (Tesla) has ramped significantly. Rivian owners are in a far better position than any of the dozen other manufacturers who are promised adapters but haven't gotten them yet.

I mean, what did you expect when Rivian and Ford and all the others promised the adapters would be shipped out starting as early as Spring 2024? "Starting as early as" means "no sooner than". Did you really expect that everyone would receive one within a few months? There are something like 1 million vehicles out there, from Rivian, Ford, and all the others, that have been promised adapters. It's going to take time, and we knew last year it was going to take time. I don't get why everyone is pissed that they haven't gotten their free adapter yet.

That said, Tesla has NEVER been eager to open the supercharger network - they could have done that anytime over the past 10 years if they really wanted to. Tesla is clearly capable of making this rollout a priority and making it really fast, but it's also clear that they have business and other interests that argue for keeping the network closed. Their exact obligations and timings under the adapter agreement with manufacturers are unknown.

To me, the interesting fact in that article is that Francis Energy is getting more money than any other company, including Tesla, for charger buildout. I wonder how that's going to turn out for everyone.

Ford did send out “estimated” dates originally once able to first reserve their adapters in Feb. They missed by several months except for the earliest of reservations which I was lucky to be in on. My opinion as non of us know the truth but do believe they have intentionally slowed the rollout. GM seemed to think they would have access by now as well.

God help us with Francis. Only issue I’ve had in my almost 2 years of EV ownership. However, the new hardware they are installing does seem to work better.

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

To contrast, I just opened my EA app and almost every site has a "FULL" icon.

This isn't because of Tesla limiting access. They could open up to everyone tomorrow and magically ship adapters and you'd still see overflowing EA stations. The real problem is twofold: manufacturers offering free charging with EA, and free-chargers depending on DCFC for all of their charging needs. These are the folks you see at stations still plugged in at 98% and a 2 hour long charge session.

There's no need to offer free charging above 70 or even 80% state of charge. Just like there are fees for occupying a charger after your charge is complete, there should be fees for deliberately charging at a slower than optimal rate. Whether that's because your vehicle is only capable of 100kW and you took the 350kW charger, or you're charging up to 100% for two hours; doesn't matter.

 

[jjswan33]

Looking at my Rivian app in the Los Angeles area, which has a high % of EVs, right now show all Tesla SC has having multiple stalls available. Some large ones have 20+ stalls available. To contrast, I just opened my EA app and almost every site has a "FULL" icon. I've charged at a Tesla SC about 10 times in the past year in Los Angeles and I've never had to wait. Very much anecdotal evidence only, but from my perspective it appears that demand is not greater than supply. So while more is better for drivers, I get why Tesla would want to slow down the massive investment.

Yeah. That is why I explicitly excluded California. Infrastructure problem there no matter what kind of connector you have.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/...a?st=s2kXX1&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

I'm wondering if the slow roll out of adaptors is intentional. While opening up the Network to non-Teslas has gotten them Federal money, could they be buying time by slowing delivery of adaptors so they cut down on congestion?

I don't think so. I think it was a product of Elmo's temper tantrum. The mass firing created a coordination/communication blackout overnight. No one was left holding the ball. And once there were, finally, they had to find the ball first before deciding what to do with it. The adapters are made at Giga 2 (NY), same place Tesla Superchargers and solar roofs are made. Once Supercharger growth throttled down, they shifted production capacity to the adapters—8k adapters per week.

Looking at my Rivian app in the Los Angeles area, which has a high % of EVs, right now show all Tesla SC has having multiple stalls available. Some large ones have 20+ stalls available. To contrast, I just opened my EA app and almost every site has a "FULL" icon. I've charged at a Tesla SC about 10 times in the past year in Los Angeles and I've never had to wait. Very much anecdotal evidence only, but from my perspective it appears that demand is not greater than supply. So while more is better for drivers, I get why Tesla would want to slow down the massive investment.

I'm in OC, not far from Rivian HQ. Ever since I've been able to charge at TSC I don't go to EA anymore. Every EA sites nearby have a F grade—too few chargers per site and it's always a 50/50 gamble whether the charger will work once you worked your way up the waiting line. All the Hyuindais/KIAs and VWs getting their free charging do not help at all. The local Superchargers do get busy (especially during the first hour of the cheapest time, 11 PM). But you know it's going to work when you get there and there are plenty of chargers at each site (shorter wait). The only downside is they're all V3s with short cables.

 

[lefkonj]

It is easy to fund the TSCN when you are making huge profits on car sales, now that those numbers are down it isn't so easy. Not to mention it just heats up more competition for the vehicle sales when they can use the TSCN.

The rollout of adapters is impacted because Elon threw a fit like the child he is and fired everyone. The best thing the Tesla board could do is fire Elon, short term hit to the stock but long term gain because he would be gone.

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