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 inks multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution to avoid tariff pressure
Tesla has reportedly secured a sizable partnership with LGES for LFP cells, and there’s an extra positive out of it.
Tesla has reportedly inked a multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution in an effort to avoid tariff pressure and domesticate more of its supply chain.
Reuters is reporting that Tesla and LGES, a South Korean battery supplier of the automaker, signed a $4.3 billion deal for energy storage system batteries. The cells are going to be manufactured by LGES at its U.S. factory located in Michigan, the report indicates. The batteries will be the lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, chemistry.
Tesla delivers 384,000 vehicles in Q2 2025, deploys 9.6 GWh in energy storage
It is a move Tesla is making to avoid buying cells and parts from overseas as the Trump White House continues to use tariffs to prioritize domestic manufacturing.
LGES announced earlier today that it had signed a $4.3 billion contract to supply LFP cells over three years to a company, but it did not identify the customer, nor did the company state whether the batteries would be used in automotive or energy storage applications.
The deal is advantageous for both companies. Tesla is going to alleviate its reliance on battery cells that are built out of the country, so it’s going to be able to take some financial pressure off itself.
For LGES, the company has reported that it has experienced slowed demand for its cells in terms of automotive applications. It planned to offset this demand lag with more projects involving the cells in energy storage projects. This has been helped by the need for these systems at data centers used for AI.
During the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja confirmed that the company’s energy division had been impacted by the need to source cells from China-based suppliers. He went on to say that the company would work on “securing additional supply chain from non-China-based suppliers.”
It seems as if Tesla has managed to secure some of this needed domestic supply chain.
Energy
Tesla Shanghai Megafactory produces 1,000th Megapack for export to Europe
The Shanghai Megafactory was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the Megapack.
Tesla Energy has announced a fresh milestone for its newest Megapack factory. As per the electric vehicle maker, the Shanghai Megafactory has successfully produced its 1,000th Megapack battery.
The facility was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the grid-scale battery system.
New Tesla Megapack Milestone
As per Tesla Asia in a post on its official accounts on social media platform X, the 1,000th Megapack unit that was produced at the Shanghai Megafactory would be exported to Europe. As noted in a CNEV Post report, Tesla’s energy products are currently deployed in over 65 countries and regions globally. This allows Tesla Energy to compete in energy markets that are both emerging and mature.
To commemorate the 1,000th Megapack produced at the Shanghai Megafactory, the Tesla China team posted with the grid-scale battery with celebratory balloons that spelled “Megapack 1000.” The milestone was celebrated by Tesla enthusiasts on social media, especially since the Shanghai Megafactory only started its operations earlier this year.
Quick Megafactory Ramp
The Shanghai Megafactory, similar to Tesla’s other key facilities in China, was constructed quickly. The facility started its construction on May 23, 2024, and it was hailed as Tesla’s first entry storage project outside the United States. Less than a year later, on February 11, 2025, the Shanghai Megafactory officially started producing Megapack batteries. And by March 21, 2025, Tesla China noted that it had shipped the first batch of Megapack batteries from the Shanghai plant to foreign markets.
While the Shanghai Megafactory is still not at the same level of output as Tesla’s Lathrop Megafactory, which produces about 10,000 Megapacks per year, its ramp seems to be quite steady and quick. It would then not be surprising if Tesla China announces the Shanghai Megafactory’s 2,000th Megapack milestone in the coming months.
Energy
Tesla launches first Virtual Power Plant in UK – get paid to use solar
Tesla has launched its first-ever Virtual Power Plant program in the United Kingdom.
Tesla has launched its first-ever Virtual Power Plant program in the United Kingdom. This feature enables users of solar panels and energy storage systems to sell their excess energy back to the grid.
Tesla is utilizing Octopus Energy, a British renewable energy company that operates in multiple markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, as the provider for the VPP launch in the region.
The company states that those who enroll in the program can earn up to £300 per month.
Tesla has operated several VPP programs worldwide, most notably in California, Texas, Connecticut, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. This is not the first time Tesla has operated a VPP outside the United States, as there are programs in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.
This is its first in the UK:
Our first VPP in the UK
You can get paid to share your energy – store excess energy in your Powerwall & sell it back to the grid
You’re making £££ and the community is powered by clean energy
Win-win pic.twitter.com/evhMtJpgy1
— Tesla UK (@tesla_uk) July 17, 2025
Tesla is not the only company that is working with Octopus Energy in the UK for the VPP, as it joins SolarEdge, GivEnergy, and Enphase as other companies that utilize the Octopus platform for their project operations.
It has been six years since Tesla launched its first VPP, as it started its first in Australia back in 2019. In 2024, Tesla paid out over $10 million to those participating in the program.
Participating in the VPP program that Tesla offers not only provides enrolled individuals with the opportunity to earn money, but it also contributes to grid stabilization by supporting local energy grids.
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