Connect with us

News

Tesla Megapack deployment, profitability reached all-time highs in Q1

Credit: Plus Power (via Hawaiian Electric | LinkedIn)

Published

on

Tesla Megapack deployment reached an all-time high in the first quarter of the year, along with the company’s energy business reaching higher profit margins than ever before.

During Tesla’s Q1 2024 earnings call held last Tuesday, CEO Elon Musk noted that Megapack deployments reached an all-time high, while the company reached a record profit margin of 24.6 percent on its energy business. By comparison, automotive margins in Q1 landed at 18.5 percent.

In addition, the company says it expects this trend to continue, as it predicts energy storage deployments overall to increase at least 75 percent from last year. Deployments also reached record highs in Q1, with Tesla deploying 4.1 GWh total energy storage deployments, as driven by Megapack deliveries.

“The Megapack, in particular, reached an all-time high in Q1, leading to record profitability for the energy business, and that looks likely to continue to increase in the quarters and years ahead,” Musk said during the call. “It will increase—we actually know that it will—significantly faster than the car business, as we expected.”

Advertisement

Tesla Megapacks to help grow 560 MW/2,240MWh battery in Australia

The recent statements come as Tesla continues to ramp Megapack production at its first “Megafactory” in Lathrop, California, and as it’s just beginning construction on a second Megafactory in Shanghai, China. Once they reach volume production, both plants are expected to be able to produce 10,000 Megapacks per year.

“Lathrop is ramping as planned. We have our second GA line allowing us to increase our exit rate from 20 GWh per year at the start of this year to 40 GWh per year by the end of the year,” added Mike Snyder, Tesla’s Senior Megapack Director, during the Q1 2024 call.

“There’s really nothing limiting the ramp. Given the longer sales cycles for these large projects, we typically have order visibility 12 to 24 months prior to ship date, so we’re able to plan the build plan several quarters in advance.”

Advertisement

As Tesla stated during its Q4 2023 earnings call, its energy business is expected to outpace its automotive business this year. The company deployed 15 GWh of batteries in 2023, increasing from just 6.5 GWh in 2022, and Musk has also said that Tesla is expecting triple-digit growth in this area.

Musk also noted last year that the energy business was becoming its highest margin business, with energy and service now contributing over half a billion to the company’s quarterly profit.

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Advertisement

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla adds a new feature to Navigation in preparation for a new vehicle

After CEO Elon Musk announced earlier this week that the Semi’s mass production processes were scheduled for later this year, the company has been making various preparations as it nears manufacturing.

Published

on

Credit: Uber

Tesla has added a new feature to its Navigation and Supercharger Map in preparation for a new vehicle to hit the road: the Semi.

After CEO Elon Musk announced earlier this week that the Semi’s mass production processes were scheduled for later this year, the company has been making various preparations as it nears manufacturing.

Elon Musk confirms Tesla Semi will enter high-volume production this year

One of those changes has been the newly-released information regarding trim levels, as well as reports that Tesla has started to reach out to customers regarding pricing information for those trims.

Advertisement

Now, Tesla has made an additional bit of information available to the public in the form of locations of Megachargers, the infrastructure that will be responsible for charging the Semi and other all-electric Class 8 vehicles that hit the road.

Tesla made the announcement on the social media platform X:

Although it is a minor development, it is a major indication that Tesla is preparing for the Semi to head toward mass production, something the company has been hinting at for several years.

Nevertheless, this, along with the other information that was released this week, points toward a significant stride in Tesla’s progress in the Semi project.

Now that the company has also worked toward completion of the dedicated manufacturing plant in Sparks, Nevada, there are more signs than ever that the vehicle is finally ready to be built and delivered to customers outside of the pilot program that has been in operation for several years.

Advertisement

For now, the Megachargers are going to be situated on the West Coast, with a heavy emphasis on routes like I-5 and I-10. This strategy prioritizes major highways and logistics hubs where freight traffic is heaviest, ensuring coverage for both cross-country and regional hauls.

California and Texas are slated to have the most initially, with 17 and 19 sites, respectively. As the program continues to grow, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Washington, New York, and Nevada will have Megacharger locations as well.

For now, the Megachargers are available in Lathrop, California, and Sparks, Nevada, both of which have ties to Tesla. The former is the location of the Megafactory, and Sparks is where both the Tesla Gigafactory and Semifactory are located.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla stock gets latest synopsis from Jim Cramer: ‘It’s actually a robotics company’

“Turns out it’s actually a robotics and Cybercab company, and I want to buy, buy, buy. Yes, Tesla’s the paper that turned into scissors in one session,” Cramer said.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Optimus/X

Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) got its latest synopsis from Wall Street analyst Jim Cramer, who finally realized something that many fans of the company have known all along: it’s not a car company. Instead, it’s a robotics company.

In a recent note that was released after Tesla reported Earnings in late January, Cramer seemed to recognize that the underwhelming financials and overall performance of the automotive division were not representative of the current state of affairs.

Instead, we’re seeing a company transition itself away from its early identity, essentially evolving like a caterpillar into a butterfly.

The narrative of the Earnings Call was simple: We’re not a car company, at least not from a birds-eye view. We’re an AI and Robotics company, and we are transitioning to this quicker than most people realize.

Advertisement

Tesla stock gets another analysis from Jim Cramer, and investors will like it

Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Call featured plenty of analysis from CEO Elon Musk and others, and some of the more minor details of the call were even indicative of a company that is moving toward AI instead of its cars. For example, the Model S and Model X will be no more after Q2, as Musk said that they serve relatively no purpose for the future.

Instead, Tesla is shifting its focus to the vehicles catered for autonomy and its Robotaxi and self-driving efforts.

Cramer recognizes this:

Advertisement

“…we got results from Tesla, which actually beat numbers, but nobody cares about the numbers here, as electric vehicles are the past. And according to CEO Elon Musk, the future of this company comes down to Cybercabs and humanoid robots. Stock fell more than 3% the next day. That may be because their capital expenditures budget was higher than expected, or maybe people wanted more details from the new businesses. At this point, I think Musk acolytes might be more excited about SpaceX, which is planning to come public later this year.”

He continued, highlighting the company’s true transition away from vehicles to its Cybercab, Optimus, and AI ambitions:

“I know it’s hard to believe how quickly this market can change its attitude. Last night, I heard a disastrous car company speak. Turns out it’s actually a robotics and Cybercab company, and I want to buy, buy, buy. Yes, Tesla’s the paper that turned into scissors in one session. I didn’t like it as a car company. Boy, I love it as a Cybercab and humanoid robot juggernaut. Call me a buyer and give me five robots while I’m at it.”

Cramer’s narrative seems to fit that of the most bullish Tesla investors. Anyone who is labeled a “permabull” has been echoing a similar sentiment over the past several years: Tesla is not a car company any longer.

Advertisement

Instead, the true focus is on the future and the potential that AI and Robotics bring to the company. It is truly difficult to put Tesla shares in the same group as companies like Ford, General Motors, and others.

Tesla shares are down less than half a percent at the time of publishing, trading at $423.69.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

SpaceX secures win as US labor board drops oversight case

The NLRB confirmed that it no longer has jurisdiction over SpaceX.

Published

on

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX scored a legal victory after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided to dismiss a case which accused the company of terminating engineers who were involved in an open letter against founder Elon Musk. 

The NLRB confirmed that it no longer has jurisdiction over SpaceX. The update was initially shared by Bloomberg News, which cited a letter about the matter it reportedly reviewed.

In a letter to the former employees’ lawyers, the labor board stated that the affected employees were under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board (NMB), not the NLRB. As a result, the labor board stated that it was dismissing the case.

As per Danielle Pierce, a regional director of the agency, “the National Labor Relations Board lacks jurisdiction over the Employer and, therefore, I am dismissing your charge.”

Advertisement

The NMB typically oversees airlines and railroads. The NLRB, on the other hand, covers most private-sector employers, as well as manufacturers such as Boeing. 

The former SpaceX engineers have argued that the private space company did not belong under the NMB’s jurisdiction because SpaceX only offers services to “hand-picked customers.” 

In an opinion, however, the NMB stated that SpaceX was under its jurisdiction because “space transport includes air travel” to get to outer space. The mediation board also noted that anyone can contact SpaceX to secure its services.

SpaceX had previously challenged the NLRB’s authority in court, arguing that the agency’s structure was unconstitutional. Jennifer Abruzzo, the NLRB general counsel under former United States President Joe Biden, rejected SpaceX’s claims. Following Abruzzo’s termination under the Trump administration, however, SpaceX asked the labor board to reconsider its arguments. 

Advertisement

SpaceX is not the only company that has challenged the constitutionality of the NLRB. Since SpaceX filed its legal challenge against the agency in 2024, other high-profile companies have followed suit. These include Amazon, which has filed similar cases that are now pending.

Continue Reading