Tesla Loses 2 More Top Execs, Sources Say

Tesla Inc’s energy unit has had to let go of two leaders as the automaker’s chief executive officer Elon Musk prepares for the reorganization of the company’s top management team, according to people familiar with the matter. This added to the list of high profile departures at the electric car maker company.

According to the sources, whose names were withheld because of the sensitivity of the issue, the two high profile executives were Arch Padmanabhan, who is the product director for the company’s stationary storage unit, and Bob Rudd, who is a former SolarCity vice president that led the North American commercial and utility sales.

The two have both left the automobile giant, according to the sources who asked not to be named. Tesla didn’t issue any comment regarding the matter, while Padmanabhan has already confirmed his exit, adding that he was now embarking on a new venture. He declined to provide any further details. Rudd couldn’t be reached for statement.

There have been a series of exit from the company. Matthew Schwall, who is Tesla’s primary contact with the US regulators, have also left to join Waymo, which is the self-driving car company led by Google. Jim Keller, who is the head of the driver-assistance system Autopilot, also left last month and then joined Intel Corp.

In March, two top financial executives also left, while sales chief Jon McNeil put down the helm to join Lyft Inc last February.

Meanwhile, Musk announced to employees in an email that he’s “flattening” the company’s management structure to rebuff its communication system.

Tesla has listed only four executives in its recent proxy statement. These four are Elon Musk himself, Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja, Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, and engineering chief Doug Field, who’s currently on break from the company.

The company’s stock dropped for a fourth consecutive day as the string of bad news continued to unfold. There has also been a bearish note from Morgan Stanley regarding Tesla’s problems. According to the data compiled by one news agency, Tesla is on a losing streak that is the longest since March 20, with shares declining 2.7 percent.

Tesla has utilized its lithium-ion battery technology in positioning its business as a key player in the emerging energy-storage market that supplements and potentially threatens the conventional electric grid models.

In the earnings conference call in February 2015, Musk made the first announcement of the creation of a home battery also known as the “Powerwall.” After that, the company has taken over SolarCity Corp, a solar-panel installer company. Musk is also the chairman of that company. As for the end of last year, the combined companies were approaching a headcount of 40,000 employees.

Several states, including California and New York, consider energy storage as a critical tool that can help the improved management of the electric grid. It can also integrate a growing amount of solar and wind power, as well as reduce greenhouse emissions. Tesla has struck a partnership with Southern California Edison to provide batteries at the utility’s Mira Loma substation.

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