Electric vehicles are part of a sustainable energy/transportation ecosystem that also includes charging infrastructure, smart grid technology and renewable energy. The key that ties all of these components together is energy storage. Storage, specifically batteries, is the enabling technology that makes modern EVs possible, and that makes renewable energy viable. Battery storage also provides a number of other benefits for the electrical grid, such as load balancing and frequency regulation.
Unsurprisingly, Tesla understood this synergy early in the game, and its Tesla Energy division has carved out a lucrative side business selling stationary battery storage to electric utilities, as well as residential and commercial energy customers (actually, “side business” may not be quite the right description, as Elon Musk has predicted that Tesla’s energy business may someday be bigger than its car business).
As a recent article in SingularityHub explains, other auto manufacturers see the possibilities and are also beginning to enter into the stationary storage market. BMW recently signed a contract to incorporate 500 i3 battery packs into the UK’s national electrical grid. Renault is developing a home energy storage product based on its Zoe batteries. Toyota and Nissan have both announced plans to offer energy storage, and Audi is one of several brands that are exploring the possibilities with pilot projects.
Above: Nissan hired actress Margot Robbie to showcase its home energy “xStorage” product along with its all-electric Nissan Leaf (Youtube: Motorward)
It’s a natural move for the automakers, who are steadily securing supplies of batteries for the EVs they’ll soon be building in volume. Volkswagen recently announced plans to invest $48 billion on battery tech over the next few years. If companies are going to be making large amounts of batteries, it simply makes sense to explore other markets that require storage.
Of course, Tesla has been doing just that for a few years now. The California trendsetter has scored some highly-publicized successes with utility-scale projects in Australia, and its Powerpacks are becoming popular for off-grid applications around the world.
But there’s more to this than just opening new markets for batteries. Tesla’s vehicles are seen as part of an ecosystem of products designed to function smoothly together. As Elon Musk explained to Fast Company, “This is the integrated future. You’ve got an electric car, a Powerwall, and a Solar Roof.” As Apple and Amazon have demonstrated, this can be an unbeatable strategy – if a customer is driving a Model S, and is impressed with the company, she’ll be that much more likely to buy a solar electric system (and why not a flamethrower, too?) from Tesla as well. The legacy automakers would be foolish to ignore the possibilities.
In dollar terms, those possibilities are staggering. Markets Insider predicts that the market for grid-connected battery storage will grow from $3.3 billion in 2016 to $14 billion by 2021, and probably well over $100 billion by 2030 – a compound annual growth rate of around 34 percent.
It’s not even necessary to produce batteries specifically for the stationary storage market. As EV batteries age, they gradually lose capacity, and drivers, who crave maximum range, will want to replace them. However, once a superannuated battery is no longer suitable for use in a vehicle, it can still be quite useful in a stationary storage application. Several automakers are investigating the possibilities of “second-life” EV batteries.
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Note: Article originally published on evannex.com by Charles Morris; Source: SingularityHub
Energy
Tesla Energy celebrates one decade of sustainability
Tesla Energy has gone far since its early days, and it is now becoming a progressively bigger part of the company.
Tesla Energy recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a dedicated video showcasing several of its milestones over the past decade.
Tesla Energy has gone far since its early days, and it is now becoming a progressively bigger part of the company.
Tesla Energy Early Days
When Elon Musk launched Tesla Energy in 2015, he noted that the business is a fundamental transformation of how the world works. To start, Tesla Energy offered the Powerwall, a 7 kWh/10 kWh home battery system, and the Powerpack, a grid-capable 100 kWh battery block that is designed for scalability. A few days after the products’ launch, Musk noted that Tesla had received 38,000 reservations for the Powerwall and 2,500 reservations for the Powerpack.
Tesla Energy’s beginnings would herald its quiet growth, with the company later announcing products like the Solar Roof tile, which is yet to be ramped, and the successor to the Powerwall, the 13.5 kWh Powerwall 2. In recent years, Tesla Energy also launched its Powerwall 3 home battery and the massive Megapack, a 3.9 MWh monster of a battery unit that has become the backbone for energy storage systems across the globe.
Key Milestones
As noted by Tesla Energy in its recent video, it has now established facilities that allow the company to manufacture 20,000 units of the Megapack every year, which should help grow the 23 GWh worth of Megapacks that have already been deployed globally.
The Powerwall remains a desirable home battery as well, with more than 850,000 units installed worldwide. These translate to 12 GWh of residential entry storage delivered to date. Just like the Megapack, Tesla is also ramping its production of the Powerwall, allowing the division to grow even more.
Tesla Energy’s Role
While Tesla Energy does not catch as much headlines as the company’s electric vehicle businesses, its contributions to the company’s bottom line have been growing. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Tesla Energy deployed 10.4 GWh of energy storage products. Powerwall deployments also crossed 1 GWh in one quarter for the first time. As per Tesla in its Q1 2025 Update Letter, the gross margin for the Energy division has improved sequentially as well.
Tesla Energy shined in what was a weak delivery report for the first quarter, as the company’s frequently-forgotten battery storage products performed extraordinarily well.
Tesla reported its Q1 production, delivery, and deployment figures for the first quarter of the year, and while many were less-than-excited about the automotive side, the Energy division performed well with 10.4 GWh of energy storage products deployed during the first quarter.
This was a 156 percent increase year-over-year and the company’s second-best quarter in terms of energy deployments to date. Only Q4 2024 was better, as 11 GWh was recorded.
Tesla Energy is frequently forgotten and not talked about enough. The company has continued to deploy massive energy storage projects across the globe, and as it recorded 31.5 GWh of deployments last year, 2025 is already looking as if it will be a record-setting year if it continues at this pace.
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Although Energy performed well, many investors are privy to that of the automotive division’s performance, which is where some concern lies. Tesla had a weak quarter for deliveries, missing Wall Street estimates by a considerable margin.
There are two very likely reasons as to why this happened: the first is Tesla’s switchover to the new Model Y at its production facilities across the globe. Tesla said it lost “several weeks” of production due to the updating of manufacturing lines as it rolled out a new version of its all-electric crossover.
Secondly, Tesla could be facing some pressure from pushback against the brand, which is what many analysts will say. Despite the publicity of attacks on Tesla drivers and their vehicles, as well as the company’s showrooms, it would be safe to assume that we will have a better picture painted of what the issue is in Q2 after the company reports numbers in July.
If Tesla is still struggling with lackluster delivery figures in Q2 after the Model Y is ramped and deliveries are more predictable and consistent, we could see where the argument for brand damage is legitimate. However, we are more prone to believe the Model Y, which accounts for most of Tesla’s sales, and its production ramp is likely the cause for what happened in Q1.
In what was a relatively bleak quarter, Tesla Energy still shines as the bright spot for the quarter.
Tesla has chosen the location of its latest manufacturing project, a facility that will churn out the Megapack, a large-scale energy storage system for solar energy projects. It has chosen Waller County, Texas, as the location of the new plant, according to a Commissioners Court meeting that occurred on Wednesday, March 5.
Around midday, members of the Waller County Commissioners Court approved a tax abatement agreement that will bring Tesla to its area, along with an estimated 1,500 jobs. The plant will be located at the Empire West Industrial Park in the Brookshire part of town.
Brookshire also plans to consider a tax abatement for Tesla at its meeting next Thursday.
The project will see a one million square-foot building make way for Tesla to build Megapack battery storage units, according to Covering Katy News, which first reported on the company’s intention to build a plant for its energy product.
CEO Elon Musk confirmed on the company’s Q4 2024 Earnings Call in late January that it had officially started building its third Megapack plant, but did not disclose any location:
“So, we have our second factory, which is in Shanghai, that’s starting operation, and we’re building a third factory. So, we’re trying to ramp output of the stationary battery storage as quickly as possible.”
Tesla plans third Megafactory after breaking energy records in 2024
The Megapack has been a high-demand item as more energy storage projects have started developing. Across the globe, regions are looking for ways to avert the loss of power in the event of a natural disaster or simple power outage.
This is where Megapack comes in, as it stores energy and keeps the lights on when the main grid is unable to provide electricity.
Vince Yokom of the Waller County Economic Development Partnership, commented on Tesla’s planned Megapack facility:
“I want to thank Tesla for investing in Waller County and Brookshire. This will be a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for their Megapack product. It is a powerful battery unit that provides energy storage and support to help stabilize the grid and prevent outages.”
Tesla has had a lease on the building where it will manufacture the Megapacks since October 2021. However, it was occupied by a third-party logistics company that handled the company’s car parts.
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