Energy
Tesla’s Director of Battery Engineering has reportedly left the company
Tesla’s Director of Battery Engineering, Jon Wagner, has reportedly left the company to focus on a new role at a battery and powertrain startup in Redwood City, CA. The report, first surfaced on Jalopnik, states that Wagner departed Tesla in October, despite his LinkedIn profile still showing that he’s currently employed by the Silicon Valley electric car maker.
Wagner, who’s been at Tesla since 2013, has served as Tesla’s Interim Director for Body Engineering, Computer Aided Engineering, Materials, and Battery Manufacturing Engineering throughout his near five-year term. During his time at Tesla, Wagner led the cost-down and product improvement effort for Model S and Model X’s battery pack. He also pushed research and development efforts that would ultimately translate into technological innovation for Tesla’s Powerwall and Model 3.
According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Wagner is one of the inventors on a patent that was filed by Tesla for an Energy storage system with heat pipe thermal management. We’ve provided background for the patent as outlined by the USPTO.
Energy storage systems are used in a variety of contexts. For example, an electric vehicle can have a number of individual energy storage units (e.g., lithium-ion cells) stored inside a compartment, and this system is often referred to as a battery pack. Cells and other storage units generate heat during operation, such as during the charging process and when the cells are used to deliver energy, for example to the propulsion/traction system of the vehicle.
One cooling approach currently being used involves lithium-ion cells that are electrically connected by an anode terminal at the bottom of the cell, and a cathode terminal on top of the cell. These cells are arranged to all have the same orientation (e.g., “standing up”) with some spacing provided between all adjacent cells. The spacing facilitates a cooling conduit to run between the cells and be in contact with at least a portion of the outer surface of each cell. The cooling conduit has a coolant flowing through it, which removes thermal energy from inside the battery pack to some location on the outside, where heat can be safely dissipated. In order to provide a safe coolant flow, one must provide fluid connections into and out of the battery package, and the coolant path inside the battery pack must be reliable and have enough capacity.
Wagner’s departure comes at a critical time for Tesla, as it continues to work through battery production challenges being faced at the Gigafactory, and looks to prove to the consumer market that the company’s ‘holy grail’ vehicle, Model 3, will be able to reach volume production of 5,000 vehicles per week by the end of March 2018.
The Silicon Valley electric car maker noted in its third quarter 2017 earnings report that some of the manufacturing processes for Model 3’s battery modules needed to be redesigned, thus delaying the company’s original plan to begin volume production in December by three months. “To date, our primary production constraint has been in the battery module assembly line at Gigafactory 1, where cells are packaged into modules.” read the statement from Tesla in its update letter.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk provided additional background during a Q&A call with analysts, noting that much of the software that was needed for battery module production had to be redesigned. “We had to rewrite all of the software, from scratch. We managed to write 20 to 30 man-years of software in 4 weeks.” said Musk in explaining the level of reprogramming needed for the manufacturing robots.
As senior leaders at Tesla continue to depart, one has to question whether Wall Street’s love and hate stock and Silicon Valley’s sweetheart is biting off more than it can chew. Are these turnovers early indication that Tesla might be headed for a major downturn in 2018 or is it all par for the course?
Energy
Tesla meets Giga New York’s Buffalo job target amid political pressures
Giga New York reported more than 3,460 statewide jobs at the end of 2025, meeting the benchmark tied to its dollar-a-year lease.
Tesla has surpassed its job commitments at Giga New York in Buffalo, easing pressure from lawmakers who threatened the company with fines, subsidy clawbacks, and dealership license revocations last year.
The company reported more than 3,460 statewide jobs at the end of 2025, meeting the benchmark tied to its dollar-a-year lease at the state-built facility.
As per an employment report reviewed by local media, Tesla employed 2,399 full-time workers at Gigafactory New York and 1,060 additional employees across the state at the end of 2025. Part-time roles pushed the total headcount of Tesla’s New York staff above the 3,460-job target.
The gains stemmed in part from a new Long Island service center, a Buffalo warehouse, and additional showrooms in White Plains and Staten Island. Tesla also said it has invested $350 million in supercomputing infrastructure at the site and has begun manufacturing solar panels.
Empire State Development CEO Hope Knight said the agency was “very happy” with Giga New York’s progress, as noted in a WXXI report. The current lease runs through 2029, and negotiations over updated terms have included potential adjustments to job requirements and future rent payments.
Some lawmakers remain skeptical, however. Assemblymember Pat Burke questioned whether the reported job figures have been fully verified. State Sen. Patricia Fahy has also continued to sponsor legislation that would revoke Tesla’s company-owned dealership licenses in New York. John Kaehny of Reinvent Albany has argued that the project has not delivered the manufacturing impact originally promised as well.
Knight, for her part, maintained that Empire State Development has been making the best of a difficult situation.
“(Empire State Development) has tried to make the best of a very difficult situation. There hasn’t been another use that has come forward that would replace this one, and so to the extent that we’re in this place, the fact that 2,000 families at (Giga New York) are being supported through the activity of this employer. It’s the best that we can have happen,” the CEO noted.
Energy
Tesla launches Cybertruck vehicle-to-grid program in Texas
The initiative was announced by the official Tesla Energy account on social media platform X.
Tesla has launched a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) program in Texas, allowing eligible Cybertruck owners to send energy back to the grid during high-demand events and receive compensation on their utility bills.
The initiative, dubbed Powershare Grid Support, was announced by the official Tesla Energy account on social media platform X.
Texas’ Cybertruck V2G program
In its post on X, Tesla Energy confirmed that vehicle-to-grid functionality is “coming soon,” starting with select Texas markets. Under the new Powershare Grid Support program, owners of the Cybertruck equipped with Powershare home backup hardware can opt in through the Tesla app and participate in short-notice grid stress events.
During these events, the Cybertruck automatically discharges excess energy back to the grid, supporting local utilities such as CenterPoint Energy and Oncor. In return, participants receive compensation in the form of bill credits. Tesla noted that the program is currently invitation-only as part of an early adopter rollout.
The launch builds on the Cybertruck’s existing Powershare capability, which allows the vehicle to provide up to 11.5 kW of power for home backup. Tesla added that the program is expected to expand to California next, with eligibility tied to utilities such as PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E.
Powershare Grid Support
To participate in Texas, Cybertruck owners must live in areas served by CenterPoint Energy or Oncor, have Powershare equipment installed, enroll in the Tesla Electric Drive plan, and opt in through the Tesla app. Once enrolled, vehicles would be able to contribute power during high-demand events, helping stabilize the grid.
Tesla noted that events may occur with little notice, so participants are encouraged to keep their Cybertrucks plugged in when at home and to manage their discharge limits based on personal needs. Compensation varies depending on the electricity plan, similar to how Powerwall owners in some regions have earned substantial credits by participating in Virtual Power Plant (VPP) programs.
Tesla is updating Cybertruck owners on its timeline of a massive feature that has yet to ship: Powershare with Powerwall.
Powershare is a bidirectional charging feature exclusive to Cybertruck, which allows the vehicle’s battery to act as a portable power source for homes, appliances, tools, other EVs, and more. It was announced in late 2023 as part of Tesla’s push into vehicle-to-everything energy sharing, and acting as a giant portable charger is the main advantage, as it can provide backup power during outages.
Cybertruck’s Powershare system supports both vehicle-to-load (V2L) and vehicle-to-home (V2H), making it flexible and well-rounded for a variety of applications.
However, even though the feature was promised with Cybertruck, it has yet to be shipped to vehicles. Tesla communicated with owners through email recently regarding Powershare with Powerwall, which essentially has the pickup act as an extended battery.
Powerwall discharge would be prioritized before tapping into the truck’s larger pack.
However, Tesla is still working on getting the feature out to owners, an email said:
“We’re writing to let you know that the Powershare with Powerwall feature is still in development and is now scheduled for release in mid-2026.
This new release date gives us additional time to design and test this feature, ensuring its ability to communicate and optimize energy sharing between your vehicle and many configurations and generations of Powerwall. We are also using this time to develop additional Powershare features that will help us continue to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Owners have expressed some real disappointment in Tesla’s continuous delays in releasing the feature, as it was expected to be released by late 2024, but now has been pushed back several times to mid-2026, according to the email.
Foundation Series Cybertruck buyers paid extra, expecting the feature to be rolled out with their vehicle upon pickup.
Cybertruck’s Lead Engineer, Wes Morrill, even commented on the holdup:
As a Cybertruck owner who also has Powerwall, I empathize with the disappointed comments.
To their credit, the team has delivered powershare functionality to Cybertruck customers who otherwise have no backup with development of the powershare gateway. As well as those with solar…
— Wes (@wmorrill3) December 12, 2025
He said that “it turned out to be much harder than anticipated to make powershare work seamlessly with existing Powerwalls through existing wall connectors. Two grid-forming devices need to negotiate who will form and who will follow, depending on the state of charge of each, and they need to do this without a network and through multiple generations of hardware, and test and validate this process through rigorous certifications to ensure grid safety.”
It’s nice to see the transparency, but it is justified for some Cybertruck owners to feel like they’ve been bait-and-switched.
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