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Former Tesla executive aims to raise $50 million for energy startup
The latest startup to come from a former Tesla executive has arrived and is set to build next-gen grid hardware.
A former Tesla executive who departed last year is now aiming to raise funding for a new energy startup, which is set to help build next-generation grid hardware.
Drew Baglino, Tesla’s former SVP of Powertrain and Energy, is aiming to raise $30 to $50 million in Series A funding for his new startup, Heron Power, according to three sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Axios. Heron is set to produce next-generation transformers for electrical grids, and two of the sources say the company began raising funding last month.
The funding round is likely to be led by Capricorn Investment Group, which is an impact investment firm that’s particularly focused on sustainability and energy projects. The sources also said that Baglino’s involvement in the project could push the offering’s valuation into the hundreds of millions, though neither he nor Capricorn responded to Axios’ requests for comment.
“If he opened a taco stand there’d be significant interest,” one source says of Baglino. “He’s an A plus player.”
Baglino also responded to the news on Sunday, officially announcing the venture on LinkedIn:
After a year focused on my family, enjoying extended travel and many hours spent gardening and surfing, I’m excited to share that I’ve started a new company, Heron Power.
The electricity sector is struggling to keep pace with AI’s insatiable energy demand on top of the growing electrification of transport, industry, and buildings. Meanwhile, developed economies are deploying renewable resources at near terawatt pace in the face of strong headwinds from undersized, decades-old electric infrastructure long-due for renewal. As we transition towards a more sustainable, largely electrified energy economy, the need for more deployable, efficient, and resilient electrical infrastructure has never been more critical.
Heron Power is building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. We aim to unlock faster growth of the electricity sector with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything.
If this sounds like your kind of adventure, let us know by reaching out or applying here: https://www.heronpower.com/
Transformers work to adjust the voltage of electricity between the grid and front-facing applications, and as power-intensive AI data centers become more common, they’re considered to be in somewhat short supply. The firm also says that the transition to sustainable electricity generation alone will require a three- to five-fold increase in global electricity generation and consumption.
"If he opened a taco stand there'd be significant interest. He's an A plus player."
-anonymous source on former Tesla SVP Drew Baglino trying to raise funding for a new startup pic.twitter.com/boOndfGe0l
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 7, 2025
READ MORE ON FORMER TESLA EXECUTIVES: This Tesla executive is leaving the company after over 12 years
Heron is planning to manufacture solid-state electrical transformers within the U.S., though the sector is fairly competitive with startups aiming to build more efficient versions of the hardware that omits copper and iron components in favor of semiconductors.
Currently, around 80 percent of high-voltage transformers are imported into the U.S., and the news also comes as U.S. President Donald Trump’s global tariffs take effect.
“Heron Power is building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid,” the company writes on its website. “We aim to debottleneck the growth of electricity generation and consumption with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything.”
Some investors have said that the valuation estimates are too high, and have been repelled by this and current market factors.
“You’re betting he can build it without a glitch, and that the capital markets will stay open for him,” one source explained. “That’s a really narrow window.”
Baglino worked with Tesla for 18 years, rising up through the company to land in his final position as the SVP of Powertrain and Energy. He played a major role in leading general product engineering, as well as the engineering and development of Tesla’s electric vehicle (EV) batteries, motors, drive units, and power electronics, alongside work on the company’s energy products.
Updated 4/13: Added Baglino’s official announcement.
News
Tesla dispels reports of ‘sales suspension’ in California
“This was a “consumer protection” order about the use of the term “Autopilot” in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.
Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.”
Tesla has dispelled reports that it is facing a thirty-day sales suspension in California after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issued a penalty to the company after a judge ruled it “misled consumers about its driver-assistance technology.”
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the California DMV was planning to adopt the penalty but decided to put it on ice for ninety days, giving Tesla an opportunity to “come into compliance.”
Tesla enters interesting situation with Full Self-Driving in California
Tesla responded to the report on Tuesday evening, after it came out, stating that this was a “consumer protection” order that was brought up over its use of the term “Autopilot.”
The company said “not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem,” yet a judge and the DMV determined it was, so they want to apply the penalty if Tesla doesn’t oblige.
However, Tesla said that its sales operations in California “will continue uninterrupted.”
It confirmed this in an X post on Tuesday night:
This was a “consumer protection” order about the use of the term “Autopilot” in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.
Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) December 17, 2025
The report and the decision by the DMV and Judge involved sparked outrage from the Tesla community, who stated that it should do its best to get out of California.
One X post said California “didn’t deserve” what Tesla had done for it in terms of employment, engineering, and innovation.
Tesla has used Autopilot and Full Self-Driving for years, but it did add the term “(Supervised)” to the end of the FSD suite earlier this year, potentially aiming to protect itself from instances like this one.
This is the first primary dispute over the terminology of Full Self-Driving, but it has undergone some scrutiny at the federal level, as some government officials have claimed the suite has “deceptive” naming. Previous Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was vocally critical of the use of the name “Full Self-Driving,” as well as “Autopilot.”
News
New EV tax credit rule could impact many EV buyers
We confirmed with a Tesla Sales Advisor that any current orders that have the $7,500 tax credit applied to them must be completed by December 31, meaning delivery must take place by that date. However, it is unclear at this point whether someone could still claim the credit when filing their tax returns for 2025 as long as the order reflects an order date before September 30.
Tesla owners could be impacted by a new EV tax credit rule, which seems to be a new hoop to jump through for those who benefited from the “extension,” which allowed orderers to take delivery after the loss of the $7,500 discount.
After the Trump Administration initiated the phase-out of the $7,500 EV tax credit, many were happy to see the rules had been changed slightly, as deliveries could occur after the September 30 cutoff as long as orders were placed before the end of that month.
However, there appears to be a new threshold that EV buyers will have to go through, and it will impact their ability to get the credit, at least at the Point of Sale, for now.
Delivery must be completed by the end of the year, and buyers must take possession of the car by December 31, 2025, or they will lose the tax credit. The U.S. government will be closing the tax credit portal, which allows people to claim the credit at the Point of Sale.
🚨UPDATE: $7,500 Tax Credit Portal “Closes By End of Year”.
This is bad news for pending Tesla buyers (MYP) looking to lock in the $7,500 Tax Credit.
“it looks like the portal closes by end of the year so there be no way for us to guarantee the funds however, we will try our… pic.twitter.com/LnWiaXL30k
— DennisCW | wen my L (@DennisCW_) December 15, 2025
We confirmed with a Tesla Sales Advisor that any current orders that have the $7,500 tax credit applied to them must be completed by December 31, meaning delivery must take place by that date.
However, it is unclear at this point whether someone could still claim the credit when filing their tax returns for 2025 as long as the order reflects an order date before September 30.
If not, the order can still go through, but the buyer will not be able to claim the tax credit, meaning they will pay full price for the vehicle.
This puts some buyers in a strange limbo, especially if they placed an order for the Model Y Performance. Some deliveries have already taken place, and some are scheduled before the end of the month, but many others are not expecting deliveries until January.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk takes latest barb at Bill Gates over Tesla short position
Bill Gates placed a massive short bet against Tesla of ~1% of our total shares, which might have cost him over $10B by now
Elon Musk took his latest barb at former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates over his short position against the company, which the two have had some tensions over for a number of years.
Gates admitted to Musk several years ago through a text message that he still held a short position against his sustainable car and energy company. Ironically, Gates had contacted Musk to explore philanthropic opportunities.
Elon Musk explains Bill Gates beef: He ‘placed a massive bet on Tesla dying’
Musk said he could not take the request seriously, especially as Gates was hoping to make money on the downfall of the one company taking EVs seriously.
The Tesla frontman has continued to take shots at Gates over the years from time to time, but the latest comment came as Musk’s net worth swelled to over $600 billion. He became the first person ever to reach that threshold earlier this week, when Tesla shares increased due to Robotaxi testing without any occupants.
Musk refreshed everyone’s memory with the recent post, stating that if Gates still has his short position against Tesla, he would have lost over $10 billion by now:
Bill Gates placed a massive short bet against Tesla of ~1% of our total shares, which might have cost him over $10B by now
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2025
Just a month ago, in mid-November, Musk issued his final warning to Gates over the short position, speculating whether the former Microsoft frontman had still held the bet against Tesla.
“If Gates hasn’t fully closed out the crazy short position he has held against Tesla for ~8 years, he had better do so soon,” Musk said. This came in response to The Gates Foundation dumping 65 percent of its Microsoft position.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends final warning to Bill Gates over short position
Musk’s involvement in the U.S. government also drew criticism from Gates, as he said that the reductions proposed by DOGE against U.S.A.I.D. were “stunning” and could cause “millions of additional deaths of kids.”
“Gates is a huge liar,” Musk responded.
It is not known whether Gates still holds his Tesla short position.
Tesla dispels reports of ‘sales suspension’ in California
New EV tax credit rule could impact many EV buyers
