Thanks to Elon Musk, the “industry’s largest talent acquisition opportunity” fell into the hands of Aaron and Stephanie Luque, and they weren’t about to pass up the opportunity.
When the couple first founded their Georgia-based electric vehicle infrastructure company, EnviroSpark Energy Solutions, Aaron would visit their local Tesla showroom in Atlanta, hoping to find work implementing places home charging for new customers.
Now, Musk’s automaker would once again help EnviroSpark by laying off its entire Supercharger team just when the husband and wife duo desperately needed new workers.
“The day before, we had achieved the largest fundraising in the history of the company, $50 million,” recalls Luque., narrative Fortune the task of recruiting to fill all the staff they needed seemed daunting.
When he learned of Tesla’s bloodbath, he was shocked.
Access to Superchargers’ vast and reliable network, with its seamless integration and premium charging experience, was one of the strongest arguments why customers should buy Musk’s cars over a competitor’s .
On a private level, it was also difficult because Luque counted many employees among his friends.
“Every person I knew or loved at Tesla was fired. They shared the same mission as us, they lived and breathed electric vehicle charging,” he adds.
One of them was George Bahadue, former senior director of site acquisition and business development at Tesla.
“For my network, you hit the jackpot: Tesla Charger employees are a special breed, resilient and the best in the business. I strongly encourage you to consider them as you build your teams and continue the recharge mission,” he posted on LinkedIn earlier this month.
Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, but at a slower pace for new locations and with a greater focus on 100% availability and expansion of existing locations.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 30, 2024
Quick-thinking founders seize the moment
Luque’s wife seized the opportunity by contacting Bahadue on LinkedIn to tell him that EnviroSpark was recruiting for several positions and setting up an email hotline for Tesla employees.
The EnviroSpark homepage also added a pop-up banner inviting former Tesla Supercharger employees to apply for open positions.
According to Aaron, the company’s CEO, more than 100 resumes have been received since then. Considering Team Tesla only had around 500 people worldwide, that’s a pretty good batting average for the quick-witted duo.
The first major talent acquisition is already in the bank.
Joe Williams said he was truly at a loss for words when he lost his job as head of Tesla’s Southeast Supercharging, based in EnviroSpark’s hometown of Atlanta.
Just two weeks later, he was “beyond grateful” after being named EnviroSpark’s new senior vice president of business development.
Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over $500 million to expand our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year.
This only concerns new sites and expansions, not counting operating costs, which are much higher.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2024
In Aaron Luque’s mind, this is the closest thing to a win-win situation, given the circumstances.
Musk gets laid off, their company can grow, and a number of talented employees can get back on their feet. Even Tesla won’t suffer since the company is so far ahead when it comes to the Supercharger network that there is no threat in sight.
According to figures from the site EVAdoption, Tesla operates more than 12,580 fast charging ports at more than 1,000 locations in the United States, compared to number two, Electrify America, which has just 3,112 ports.
“Anyone looking to scale something that would be able to compete with Tesla, it would take them a long time to catch up, and they would be able to see that coming in advance and adjust accordingly “, explains Aaron Luque.
No need to replace every gas station with fast chargers
EnviroSpark is also not looking to take on Tesla directly.
In fact, Aaron Luque probably agrees with Musk to some extent since the former is convinced that replacing every gas station with fast chargers is for the birds.
That’s because electric vehicle owners plug in when they get home in the evening and wake up with a full battery.
Luque says the real value-add is deploying much less expensive slow chargers in apartment complexes and other mass housing, where the real gap in charging infrastructure is.
Not only would this added convenience boost electric vehicle adoption because owners would no longer need to travel to a fast charger, but it would also benefit utilities. In effect, this shifts the load from daylight hours to off-peak nighttime charging, putting less pressure on the network.
But Musk’s decision to release all of Tesla’s charging talent into the wild in one fell swoop had some downsides for Luque.
EnviroSpark’s work for Tesla has stalled, confirming other similar cases reported in the press.
“We had 26 open projects with Tesla at the time this happened, and we haven’t received any communication since then about what we need to do,” he says.
“We are on hold until someone takes over.”
https://t.co/ozSpnbnch8 pic.twitter.com/EEJOX0Cakv
– Simon Sidespin 🇺🇦🇫🇮 (@SSidespin) May 14, 2024
Given the chaos, it’s perhaps not surprising that Musk would rehire a number of his former Supercharging employees before companies like EnviroSpark offered them gainful employment elsewhere.
Bloomberg has learned that the Tesla CEO has already convinced his former North America charging director, Max de Zegher, to return.
Amid blowback, Musk forced to reverse tough stance
Speculation about why Musk fired his top manager for indicting Rebecca Tinucci in the first place has centered on reports that she had opposed deeper cuts.
Tesla watchers believe that, on the warpath, Musk decided to make an example of her and everyone who worked for her.
Tesla could not be reached for comment because Musk fired everyone on his public relations team years ago.
However, speculation surrounding Tinucci’s departure appears plausible as the leaked email announcing his departure explicitly warned executives not to disappoint when it comes to drastic workforce reductions.
Following the subsequent blowback among worried Tesla owners, Musk last week began walking back comments made immediately after the team’s dismissal, in which he said Tesla would now slow its expansion. charging footprint and would focus on existing locations.
I just started a Supercharger community
https://t.co/o5QSGCfrp3– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2024
First, the Tesla CEO promised to invest more than $500 million in the network that would add thousands of new charging ports before launching a new Supercharger community on his social media platform .
For EnviroSpark, Musk’s sudden layoffs came at the perfect time.
Now that the company has the means to grow its business, the Luques’ biggest challenge is finding all the staff they need.
“I honestly believe the timing couldn’t have been better,” says Aaron Luque.
“Right after closing a funding round that gave us the resources, the very next day the industry’s largest talent acquisition opportunity opens up. »
As its newest senior vice president of business development will attest, some sad stories have happy endings.