Connect with us

Energy

Tesla’s million mile battery is a golden goose for large-scale energy projects

Tesla Megapack. | Image: Tesla

Published

on

Tesla Energy is a sleeping giant, rarely considered by analysts covering TSLA stock and largely underrated compared to the company’s electric car business. But something in Tesla’s pipeline may very well be a big catalyst that can fully awaken the behemoth that is the company’s Energy division: the upcoming million-mile battery.

Tesla’s million-mile battery is starting to look very close to production. Patents filed by the company have seemingly teased details about its characteristics. Elon Musk himself has spoken highly about the next-generation batteries, and studies from physicist Jeff Dahn’s team of researchers at Dalhousie University have suggested that such milestones are feasible. Tesla also appears to be gathering the necessary pieces for a massive play on batteries, as hinted at by its acquisition of battery-centric firms like Maxwell and Hibar.

True to its namesake, the million-mile battery is expected to support an electric car for 1 million miles, making them last significantly longer on the roads than comparable petrol-powered vehicles. Such a battery will likely give EVs an even bigger edge compared to their fossil fuel-powered counterparts, especially in terms of practicality. After all, a car that rarely needs maintenance and lasts a million miles is a better buy than one that requires an oil change every 5,000 miles and lasts only about 300,000 miles with extreme care.

(Credit: Tesla)

Electric vehicles are not the only ones that will benefit from Tesla’s million-mile battery. Longer lasting batteries will also be extremely valuable for the company’s energy storage products, making them possibly last decades after their initial installation. This has a lot of positive implications for Tesla Energy, especially with regards to its grid-scale battery solutions. If Tesla’s batteries can match or outlast their fossil fuel-powered grid-scale counterparts, the company could very well see a spike in the demand for its battery storage solutions.

A good example of these benefits lies in how Tesla’s battery storage units are used to support communities that have no access to the power grid. With a million-mile battery, Tesla’s energy storage products could last for a very long time, practically ensuring that communities located off the beaten path could get access to sustainable power for decades.

Tesla Powerpacks were installed on a small town in the Philippines to help address frequent power outages in the area. (Credit: Solar Phils)

The value of Tesla’s battery storage products, such as its Powerpacks and Powerwalls, is only getting more and more prominent with time. Tesla’s projects in South Australia are proof of this. The Hornsdale Power Reserve has saved residents in the region from intermittent blackouts, and the company’s Powerwalls are now being used as the backbone of a 50,000-strong Virtual Power Plant initiative.

Tesla’s million-mile battery can very well be the key for the Powerwall, Powerpack, and Megapack to dominate in their respective segments. A scenario where a Tesla battery storage system lasts decades is not too farfetched either since batteries used for stationary storage are not subject to the same strains experienced by those used in the company’s high-performance electric cars. Tesla’s batteries are already proven to be quick, cost-effective, and high-quality. With the assurance that they will last for a very long time, there’s a good chance that numerous cities and countries across the globe will adopt them for their energy needs.

Advertisement

When this happens, the sleeping giant that is Tesla Energy will likely be awaked fully. Such a scenario bodes incredibly well for Tesla, especially since investing legends such as Ron Baron have estimated that the company’s Energy business has the potential to be worth $500 billion on its own, on par with Tesla’s electric car division. The million-mile battery could very well be the key to this.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

Advertisement
Comments

Energy

Tesla Energy is the world’s top global battery storage system provider again

Tesla Energy captured 15% of the battery storage segment’s global market share in 2024.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla Energy held its top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year, capturing 15% of global market share in 2024, as per Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings.

Tesla Energy’s lead, however, is shrinking, as Chinese competitors like Sungrow are steadily increasing their global footprint, particularly in European markets.

Tesla Energy dominates in North America, but its lead is narrowing globally

Tesla Energy retained its leadership in the North American market with a commanding 39% share in 2024. Sungrow, though still ranked second in the region, saw its share drop from 17% to 10%. Powin took third place, even if the company itself filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, as noted in a Solar Power World report. 

On the global stage, Tesla Energy’s lead over Sungrow shrank from four points in 2023 to just one in 2024, indicating intensifying competition. Chinese firm CRRC came in third worldwide with an 8% share.

Wood Mackenzie ranked vendors based on MWh shipments with recognized revenue in 2024. According to analyst Kevin Shang, “Competition among established BESS integrators remains incredibly intense. Seven of the top 10 vendors last year struggled to expand their market share, remaining either unchanged or declining.”

Advertisement

Chinese integrators surge in Europe, falter in U.S.

China’s influence on the BESS market continues to grow, with seven of the global top 10 BESS integrators now headquartered in the country. Chinese companies saw a 67% year-over-year increase in European market share, and four of the top 10 BESS vendors in Europe are now based in China. In contrast, Chinese companies’ market share in North America dropped more than 30%, from 23% to 16% amid Tesla Energy’s momentum and the Trump administration’s policies.

Wood Mackenzie noted that success in the global BESS space will hinge on companies’ ability to adapt to divergent regulations and geopolitical headwinds. “The global BESS integrator landscape is becoming increasingly complex, with regional trade policies and geopolitical tensions reshaping competitive dynamics,” Shang noted, pointing to Tesla’s maintained lead and the rapid ascent of Chinese rivals as signs of a shifting industry balance.

“While Tesla maintains its global leadership, the rapid rise of Chinese integrators in Europe and their dominance in emerging markets like the Middle East signals a fundamental shift in the industry. Success will increasingly depend on companies’ ability to navigate diverse regulatory environments, adapt to local market requirements, and maintain competitive cost structures across multiple regions,” the analyst added.

Continue Reading

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.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

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.

Continue Reading

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. 

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Asia/X

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.

Advertisement

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.

Continue Reading

Trending