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Battery expert Jeff Dahn inside the frunk of a red Model S Battery expert Jeff Dahn inside the frunk of a red Model S

Energy

Tesla donates $3.1M of $6M grant to Jeff Dahn’s Dalhousie University battery team

Battery expert Jeff Dahn inside the frunk of a red Model S [Source: dal.ca]

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A team of battery researchers at Canada’s Dalhousie University are the recipients of a $6 million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). The NSERC will give the team, headed by Dr. Jeff Dahn, $2.9 million in funding. Tesla, who has worked very closely with Dahn’s team, will also contribute an additional $3.1 million to help develop advanced batteries from electric cars and grid energy storage.

Dahn and Tesla have worked together since 2016 when the two signed a five-year partnership to improve energy density and the life cycle of lithium-ion batteries. Tesla and Dahn signed another five-year contract earlier this year. Dahn has worked with batteries for around 40 years and has published over 700 papers related to battery technology.

Dahn has even been listed as an author on several Tesla battery patents, including one for an electrolyte solution that could be added to lithium-ion cells to extend longevity and increase performance.

Tesla renews contract with Jeff Dahn’s battery team at Dalhousie University

Dalhousie University expanded its team in January upon the five-year extension with Tesla. The institution added Dr. Chongyin Yang as the Tesla Canada Chair and Dr. Michael Metzger as the Herzberg-Dahn Chair to supplement Dahn’s experience and ensure that Dalhousie remains a global force in battery tech advancements.

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The $6 million in funding will be used for several new projects that include:

  • Lowering the costs of batteries for electric vehicles and electrical energy storage applications
  • Increasing the lifetime of batteries for electric vehicles and electrical energy storage applications
  • Increasing the energy density of batteries for electric vehicles and electrical energy storage applications
  • Maintaining and improving the safety of batteries for electric vehicles and electrical energy storage applications
  • Increasing the content of sustainable materials in the batteries

If Dahn’s team of researchers at Dalhousie University can achieve these goals, it would not only revolutionize EV and energy storage batteries but would also make renewable energy and Earth-friendly transportation more accessible and affordable.

Dahn spoke highly of the funding and was very appreciative of the grant that will catalyze the opportunity for more battery research. “I am very grateful for this funding from NSERC and Tesla,” Dahn said. “This will allow Chongyin, Michael, and me to solve many remaining puzzles that will help improve battery lifetime and lower cost.  The students trained in this program are finding, and will continue to find, immediate employment in the advanced battery sector locally and around the world.  Tesla is a wonderful partner and a world leader in electric vehicle, solar, and electrical energy storage products.  We share their commitment to help combat climate change through electrified transportation and renewable energy generation and storage.”

Tesla and Dahn are contractually tied until 2026.

“With a distinguished career in innovative thinking, fundamental science, and strong industry partnerships, Dr. Jeff Dahn exemplifies research excellence,” Dr. Alice Aiken, Vice President of Research and Innovation at Dalhousie, said. “And we are incredibly fortunate to have two world-class scientists like Dr. Chongyin Yang and Dr. Michael Metzger join Dalhousie University and the exclusive partnership with Tesla.”

Tesla also showed its excitement for the Dalhousie team. “We are thrilled for our work with Dalhousie, Dr. Jeff Dahn, Dr. Chongyin Yang and Dr. Michael Metzger,” Tesla said in a statement. “We are excited and look forward to their important contributions in battery technology to help achieve our mission.”

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What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Energy

Tesla’s new Megablock system can power 400,000 homes in under a month

Tesla also unveiled the Megapack 3, the latest iteration of its flagship utility scale battery.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has unveiled the Megablock and Megapack 3, the latest additions to its industrial-scale battery storage solution lineup. 

The products highlight Tesla Energy’s growing role in the company, as well as the division’s growing efforts to provide sustainable energy solutions for industrial-scale applications.

Megablock targets speed and scale

During the “Las Megas” event in Las Vegas, Tesla launched Megablock, a pre-engineered medium-voltage block designed to integrate Megapack 3 units in a plug-and-play system. Capable of 20 MWh AC with a 25-year life cycle and more than 10,000 cycles, the Megablock could achieve 91% round-trip efficiency at medium voltage, inclusive of auxiliary loads.

Tesla emphasized that Megablock can be installed 23% faster with up to 40% lower construction costs. The platform eliminates above-ground cabling through a new flexible busbar assembly and delivers site-level density of 248 MWh per acre. With Megablock, Tesla is also aiming to commission 1 GWh in just 20 business days, or enough to power 400,000 homes in less than a month. 

“With Megablock, we are targeting to commission 1 GWh in 20 business days, which is the equivalent of bringing power to 400,000 homes in less than a month. It’s crazy. How are we planning to do that? Like most things at Tesla, we are ruthlessly attacking every opportunity to save our customers time, simplify the process, remove steps, (and) automate as much as we can,” the company said. 

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Megapack 3 is all about simplicity

The Megapack 3 is Tesla’s next-generation utility battery, designed with a simplified architecture that cuts 78% of connections compared to the previous version. Its thermal bay is drastically simplified, and it uses a Model Y heat pump on steroids. The battery weighs about 86,000 pounds and holds 5 MWh of usable AC energy. Tesla engineers incorporated a larger battery module and a new 2.8-liter LFP cell co-developed with the company’s cell team.

The Megapack 3 is designed for serviceability, and it features easier front access and no roof penetrations. About 75% of Megapack 3’s total mass is battery cells, with individual modules weighing as much as a Cybertruck. It’s also tough, with an ambient operating temperature range from -40C to 60C. This should allow the Megapack 3 to operate optimally from the coldest to the hottest regions on the planet.

Production is set to begin at Tesla’s Houston Megafactory in late 2026, with planned capacity of 50 GWh per year. Additional supply will come from Tesla’s 7 GWh LFP facility in Nevada, which is expected to open in 2025, as well as with third-party partners.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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