Head of Cybertruck Manufacturing Mysteriously Leaves Tesla

Victor Tangermann
·2 min read
24

Revolving Door

The executive in charge of Cybertruck manufacturing has mysteriously left Tesla, Electrek reports, adding to a lengthy list of senior managers who have quit the Elon Musk-led company.

In a LinkedIn post, former director of manufacturing Renjie Zhu noted that his "adventure with this great company has come to an end" following his "fifth Tesla-versary."

Zhu managed manufacturing lines at the company's Gigafactory in Shanghai and continued his career at Tesla's factory in Austin as of last year.

It's still unclear if Zhu left on his own accord or was laid off by the EV maker — but either way, it doesn't bode well for the Cybertruck, which has already been mired in persistent production problems, ranging from odd design decisions to abysmal quality assurance.

Cyber Exit

Zhu is only the latest in a string of executives who've left Tesla recently. Last week, Tesla's head of product launches Rich Otto announced that he left the EV maker after seven years, slamming the company in a since-deleted post on LinkedIn that seems to criticize Musk's gutting of the company's workforce.

Other executives that have left the company include Drew Baglino, the company's now-former senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, public policy executive Rohan Patel, Tesla vice president of investor relations Martin Viecha, top HR executive Allie Arebalo, and senior director of EV charging Rebecca Tinucci.

Meanwhile, the Cybertruck, which was released late last year, has turned out into a major headache for many owners, who have since encountered glaring technical issues, extremely long wait times at service centers, unexpected coolant leaks, and random shutdowns.

Last month, every single Cybertruck that had been sold in the US was even recalled over a serious design flaw that can cause the massive pickup's accelerator pedal to get stuck.

Given the several rounds of mass layoffs hitting the company, these issues aren't likely to go away any time soon.

However, as Electrek notes, the company did achieve its planned production rate of 1,000 Cybertrucks a week last month.

Whether the end product will ever live up to expectations for all customers willing to shell out up to $100,000 is less clear.

More on the Cybertruck: Coolant Starts Pouring Out of Brand New Cybertruck After Driving 35 Miles