[casperb]

The speculation that I heard was that Tesla saw a potential government enforcement of 1 type of connector. So they made the deals with other car makers and opened their connector so that their connector would be the open standard instead of something else. So yes they gave up their advantage, but there was a possibility that is was ending either way.

[MetaWhirledPeas]

I don't know the rationale, but I do know that in spite of what tech sites and their bands of commenters would have you believe Musk makes mostly rational decisions, often to a fault. The fault in this case being that if he feels your role is not directly contributing to an optimal outcome for the company, your job will be in jeopardy.

My immediate thought was that he sees that Tesla's Supercharger advantage is not going to improve enough to justify the large team. And the experience for Tesla owners is still likely to improve over time, even if Tesla is not expanding at the same rate: even though gas cars still rule, EVs now have a significant foothold, and the rate of 3rd party charger installations will continue to accelerate.

He also said they will continue to expand existing locations and will continue with installs at a slower rate. So that means either he didn't fire everyone or he has replacements in mind.

That's just my guess though, and in addition to my guess likely being flawed, the hypothetical rationale could be flawed too.

What you said about government decisions could be important too, but it seems strange to make such a drastic decision based on potential government action, especially with an election coming up that could turn the tables.