By David Gelles, New York Times Climate Forward
Tesla is in a bad spot.
On Monday, the world’s largest electric carmaker told employees it would lay off more than 10 percent of its workforce, and two senior executives said they were leaving.
Earlier this month Tesla announced a stunning drop in sales, delivering 387,000 cars worldwide in the first quarter, down 8.5 percent from the same time last year. The company’s stock has fallen more than 35 percent this year, including a 5.5 percent drop on Monday. Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, appears strangely disengaged with the company’s stumbles and preoccupied with other pursuits.
Tesla is still the biggest electric vehicle manufacturer, credited with almost single-handedly creating the E.V. sector. As Tesla went, so went the industry.
But in a remarkably short period, the electric vehicle business appears to have untethered itself from Tesla.
American, Korean, Chinese, and European carmakers all have big, durable E.V. product lines with growing sales. Ford sold 20,223 electric vehicles in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 86 percent from the previous year, making it the second best-selling E.V. brand in the U.S.
BMW said it delivered 82,700 all-electric cars worldwide in the first three months of the year, up sharply from a year earlier. And in China, where Musk helped establish the market for electric vehicles, and the expertise to produce them, Tesla is losing its edge over Chinese competitors.
Related EV News
Electric vehicle sales have slowed down in the first 3 months of 2024 (KLTV 7)
Biden, Trump Dig Heels in as EVs Become Surprising Election Issue (US News & World Report)
N.J. could hit electric car owners with new fees starting this summer (nj.com)
Bill would create fees for electric vehicle owners in Pennsylvania (ABC27)
In recent months, total E.V. sales have softened a bit. But analysts expect long-term sales to keep rising. Phasing out gas-powered cars is an effective, and relatively easy, way to bring down planet-warming emissions. And policy developments around the globe make it a near certainty that most big carmakers will be going all-in on EVs in the years ahead.
“The challenges with any particular company, Tesla or otherwise, doesn’t mean doom and gloom for the E.V. industry at large,” said Pete Slowik of the International Council on Clean Transportation. “We are at a place where this transition is real and we have significant momentum from every global automaker.”
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