Tesla execs Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel depart as company announces steep layoffs

Tesla executives Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel announced Monday they are leaving the electric vehicle maker and clean energy company. CEO Elon Musk thanked both departing execs on X, formerly Twitter, the social network he owns and runs as CTO.

The news comes after Tesla said it is laying off more than 10% of its workforce.

Baglino had worked with Tesla since its early years, starting as a firmware and electrical engineer in 2006. He most recently reported directly to Musk as the company’s senior vice president for powertrain and energy engineering.

Patel joined Tesla in 2016 after working as a senior advisor to former President Obama on climate and energy issues, among other policy matters.

Reuters recently reported that Tesla has set aside plans to make a more affordable new EV at Musk’s direction. The strategy shift includes a greater focus on developing a “robotaxi,” and comes amid steep competition including from BYD and other Chinese automakers with more affordable electric cars.

Patel and Baglino had been deeply involved in battery and vehicle manufacturing, related policy, and turning Tesla into a multi-national EV manufacturer. They were less involved in autonomous vehicle technology at Tesla. 

Baglino wrote in a post on X:

“I made the difficult decision to move on from Tesla after 18 years yesterday. I am so thankful to have worked with and learned from the countless incredibly talented people at Tesla over the years. I loved tackling nearly every problem we solved as a team and feel gratified to have contributed to the mission of accelerating the transition to sustainable energy, a mission that I am quite passionate about.”

Musk responded on the platform, “Thanks for everything you’ve done for Tesla. Few have contributed as much as you.”

As of Monday morning, Tesla had not yet updated the “leadership” information on its corporate webpage to reflect Baglino’s departure.

Patel wrote in a post on the social network, “The past 8 years at Tesla have been filled with every emotion – but the feeling I have today is utmost gratitude,” adding that “My immigrant parents worked their asses off and as a result I’m the luckiest dude. Lucky to have been a part of @BarackObama‘s campaign/administration, and truly honored to have worked at @Tesla to positively changing multiple industries.”

Musk replied to Patel saying, “Thanks for everything you’ve done for Tesla. Much appreciated.”

The CEO also said, in a post on X on Monday, “About every 5 years, we need to reorganize and streamline the company for the next phase of growth.”

Baglino and Patel were not immediately available for comment.