With the departure of JB Straubel, Tesla loses much more than a mere CTO

When Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced Wednesday the departure of chief technology officer, JB Straubel, any close follower of the electric car manufacturer knew that this was more than the departure of a typical CTO.

During the first decade of Tesla's existence, Straubel, part of the co-founders group, invented or co-created many of the company's signature technologies. Its name is in the majority of patents filed by Tesla, particularly with respect to batteries of electric vehicles – security, architecture, monitoring and energy management.

"JB is absolutely great," said Tesla employee # 7 Gene Berdichevsky in an email. "When I started, we did some of the technical development in her garage! I think there would be no such Tesla as she is today without JB. "

Straubel, now 43, has been pushing for Tesla to pursue a supercharging strategy instead of trading his batteries. Today, this network of charging stations, available only for Tesla drivers, is a boon to the company because it can offer better service to customers, while the drivers of most other electric cars are relegated compete for time with generic chargers.

Musk announced the release of Straubel this week while posting disappointing financial results on Wall Street. It was difficult for a company that is struggling to find a profitable model to build and sell cars because invest in autonomous driving technology. Tesla recorded a quarterly loss of $ 408 million and its margins in the auto sector have been eroded, with customers showing a clear preference for the less expensive Model 3 sedans.

Drew Baglino, who was hired by Tesla from Straubel in 2006 and most recently as vice president of technology, is now in the role of CTO. Straubel's announcement, combined with weaker-than-expected results, pushed the stock down 14% on Thursday, marking the strongest fall of the year.

A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Musk and Straubel met in 2003, when Straubel was planning to propel him on the idea of ​​construction and the electric plane. But their shared pbadion for electric vehicles led Musk to introduce Straubel to Tesla's founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Musk supported Tesla and joined the board in 2004, one month after Straubel's membership, and became CEO in 2008.

In discussing Straubel's call for results, Musk said: "If we had not had lunch in 2003, Tesla would not exist fundamentally".

Even before his Tesla years, Straubel was working on electric cars. Berdichevsky, who is now CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies, said that he knew Straubel at the time when he was converting a clbadic Porsche into an electric vehicle. He also built and piloted solar cars on a team at Stanford.

He "has always been a true missionary and visionary for electric vehicles long before the world really cares," said Berdichevsky.

Tesla's newest employees describe Straubel as being respected and a softer voice in the room next to the musky and frank musky. He is an engineer in the soul, a licensed pilot and a father who wears khais most of the time. His obsession has always been to reduce costs per kilowatt hour – to make batteries of vehicles with high energy density at a lower cost.

Within Tesla, Straubel focused on the creation of technologies, teams and partnerships, and was more than willing to give the spotlight to Musk, one of the reasons why they have been involved. heard so well, said former employees.

He shared his time between the Tesla car badembly plant and his offices in California and the Gigafactory, which he helped plan and build in Sparks, Nevada. He lived practically in trailers in the middle of rocks, earth and building materials until the gigantic battery factory was operational in 2016, according to people familiar with the subject.

At Straubel's request, Tesla created load capabilities in the Model S, before the Supercharger network was developed. He also led the propulsion and software teams in the development of Model S and X models.

He also led the development of fixed energy products even before Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity. Today, Tesla Powerwall and Powerpack batteries operate as household batteries and industrial scale battery facilities to store and use solar and wind energy.

Outside Tesla, Straubel has a new stealth recycling company called Redwood Materials, which signed up last year to operate in the state of Nevada.

"I can not wait to see what JB will do next," said Berdichevsky. "There are still a lot of adjacent problems to solve in terms of energy and I'm sure that's what he thinks about."

Regarding his successor as a CTO, Berdichevsky said: "If there is a person of the first hour who can take the important place that JB leaves behind and pursue the technical vision, that's all. is Drew ".

Gene Munster, a long-time Tesla bull, said the company was well prepared to face Straubel's departure:

"The bad news is that JB Straubel was the founder of the company and that he's going away," said Munster in an interview. "The good news is that there is now a framework that allows others to intervene. He has tried to get them where they are, and it is now done. They are able to take advantage of an undeniable truth about growth. of electrification and autonomy ".

WATCH: Tesla 2nd quarter a disaster