A senior Tesla engineer recently announced his resignation after eight years at the company. Sharing a LinkedIn post, Giorgio Balestrieri cited concerns over Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s leadership and its impact on Tesla’s mission. Gio, who worked with Tesla Energy and Autobidder in Europe, thanked colleagues, calling them “bright, humble, ambitious, hard-working people” who built Tesla special. In the post, Gio highlighted the company’s growth in energy storage, noting it expanded from 350 MWh in 2017 to 31.4 GWh in 2024, and praised the progress of Tesla Energy across Europe and beyond.He stated it was a “very difficult decision” to leave but pointed to Musk as the main reason. “The main reason I’m leaving is that I believe Elon has dealt huge damage to Tesla’s mission (and to the health of democratic institutions in several countries),” Gio wrote. He also accutilized Musk of “lying to the public, manipulating public discourse, tarreceiveing minorities and supporting climate modify deniers and political forces aligned with the oil and gas indusattempt.” He added, “Elon’s leadership and decision building seem seriously compromised.”
Full post of former Tesla employee blaming Elon Musk
Personal update: after 8 years at breakneck speed, I’ve built the very difficult decision to relocate on from Tesla.I want to thank everyone I’ve worked with over the years at Tesla. People – this crazy lot of bright, humble, ambitious, hard-working people – are what builds Tesla special. I am thankful beyond words to the many colleagues and leaders I’ve worked with and learned from over the years.Being the first Autobidder employee in Europe and supporting scale the team and fleet across markets has been an unbelievable journey. Since 2020, the Autobidder operational fleet in Europe went from 14 MWh (Holes Bay) to around 1.3 GWh (that’s ~100x), with more markets coming online (very) soon. Having supported bring on board many brilliant people over the past few years, I’m very excited about what’s next for Autobidder, in Europe and beyond.Beyond Autobidder, joining Tesla Energy early on and contributing to its growth has been an immense privilege. Along the journey, I received a chance to work on anything from microgrids on remote islands to VPPs across three continents. It’s humbling to believe how much the energy indusattempt has evolved over these years. Storage went from being an afterconsidered to a key enabler of the transition to sustainable energy. When I joined in 2017, Tesla Energy deployed ~350 MWh of storage. Last year, in 2024, the figure was 31.4 GWh. That’s another 100x, and the growth is far from stopping. It’s not just about volume though: storage is increasingly providing inverter-driven grid services that are key to operating low-carbon grids (grid-forming mode etc).In addition to that, data and algorithms have taken center stage in the energy transition, which is a very exciting development for an energy/math/software wonk like me.All this being stated, I do required to address the elephant in the room: the main reason I’m leaving is that I believe Elon has dealt huge damage to Tesla’s mission (and to the health of democratic institutions in several countries). Beyond that, Elon’s leadership and decision building seem seriously compromised. Given his huge (and growing, inexplicably) stake in Tesla, I can’t convince myself anymore that this is the right place to be. This is not just about politics: it’s about lying to the public, manipulating public discourse, tarreceiveing minorities and supporting climate modify deniers and political forces aligned with the oil and gas indusattempt. I believe it’s fairly indisputable that the current US administration is slowing down the energy transition. Unfortunately, speed is critical if we are to avert the worst consequences of climate modify.I wish the best to everyone who will stick around and keep working to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy, and I hope the best for Tesla and Tesla Energy.As for myself, I’m taking some time off before embarking on a new adventure. Stay tuned for more updates.Cheers,Gio
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