This Week in EV: Lay Offs

We kick off the week with a bad week for Tesla, the company has announced that it is cutting 10% of its workforce as it looks to reduce costs. The timing is somewhat unusual given the company is trying to ramp up production of the Cybertruck. Reuters had recently reported that the so-called Tesla Model 2, the new entry level Tesla priced at $25,000 was cancelled and whilst Elon denied it further reporting seems to confirm that whilst not cancelled it’s been postponed for the foreseeable future with a number of people associated with the Model 2 on their way out. Whilst there’s no threat to the future of Tesla it does seem the company is going through some growing pains.

Every EV driver has experienced the pain of getting to an EV charger and finding it doesn't work. Well Rivian is looking to help with that with the launch of a new reliability score feature. When planning your journey the Rivians in car system will show you the most reliable ultra rapid chargers for your journey. Chargers will have a score for A (best) to F (worst) and where possible the system will aim for chargers with a score of either A or B.

The logistics of shipping thousands of cars from China and then getting them into the hands of local dealers is not an easy feat as Chinese EV OEM’s are finding out. Chinese EV’s are getting stuck in ports and shipping terminals as the OEM’s struggle to secure onward transportation at European ports such as Antwerp in Belgium and Bremerhaven in Germany. Building out distribution was always going to be tricky so it might take some time for the OEM’s to resolve.

Google Maps is improving its EV charging information with improvements to the app. Its new precision charging feature will use AI to provide summaries of the exact location of the charging station by using data from users' reviews. Reviews have also seen an update with Google Maps now asking users for plug type and wait times when they leave a review.

Don't forget that substack subscribers get more This Week in EV every week