Tesla is laying off 285 employees in Buffalo, New York as part of a broad restructuring

The layoffs disclosed in Buffalo include a 14% reduction in headcount.

Tesla took over the Buffalo plant after completing its $2.6 billion acquisition of solar installer SolarCity in 2017.

Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity was widely criticized as a bailout for the troubled solar business, which has close ties to Tesla’s CEO and board of directors. Musk co-founded SolarCity and serves as chairman with his cousins ​​Lyndon Rive and Peter Rive. Another Musk company, SpaceX, bought SolarCity bonds and would also lose their investment if the company went bankrupt.

Empire State taxpayers allocated about $1 billion to build the Buffalo plant, including equipment purchases, in hopes of supporting the creation of thousands of high-tech jobs in the region. Although Tesla says it will produce solar panels at its Buffalo factory, its efforts to grow its solar business have faltered for years.

Tesla’s total solar deployment dropped to 223 MW in 2023, down 36% from 348 MW the previous year. This is the lowest level since Tesla reported 205 megawatts of solar deployment in 2020.

Tesla’s energy division still makes most of its revenue from selling backup batteries, also known as battery energy storage systems, for use in residential, commercial and utility-scale projects.

Rather than making solar panels its main business in Buffalo, Tesla is assembling Superchargers there and moving part of its Autopilot data labeling team there. The company also told shareholders it would build its supercomputer hardware in Buffalo.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Tesla would focus on robotaxi technology and abandon plans to produce more affordable electric vehicles.

Musk wrote in a post on Tuesday afternoon postal On his social network

Tesla has not yet said whether the company will stick to its 2023 “master plan,” which lays out a “proposed path to a sustainable global energy economy through end-use electrification and sustainable generation and storage.”

Tesla plans to discuss its first-quarter results with shareholders on April 23, and executives are expected to reveal more information about restructuring and future strategies.