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Tesla Top 5 Week in Review: Solar Roof, P100D Race Car Composites, Model 3 sighting, and more

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The top articles of the week at Teslarati revolved around some of the Biggest Tesla Stories for 2017, with solar roof production at Gigafactory 2 and a Model 3 prototype sighting taking the news fast lane. But sometimes the small voices are the ones that are heard the loudest, with an upcoming Tesla commercial as the result. Tesla has become the first company to provide large magnitude solar energy for a utility, and a self-described vegan hippie race car chick will unveil an electric GT Tesla P100D race car later this month — and it’s made of biocomposite materials. Here are those stories, and more.

Tesla gears up for Solar Roof production at Gigafactory 2, Panasonic will have major role at plant

Tesla’s factory in Buffalo, dubbed Gigafactory 2, will be a site of solar roof tile manufacturing. Panasonic, Tesla’s strategic partner, will manufacture solar cells there with ancillary help from Silevo, which SolarCity acquired in 2014. Panasonic, which  has a $250 million investment in the facility, will also produce full solar panels in Buffalo, and those will be sold to Tesla. Panasonic has agreed to grant adjustable pricing to Tesla for solar products it purchases from the Japanese electronics company over the next 10 years.

Read the article here.

Tesla Model 3 spotted testing along Hyperloop track outside of SpaceX

A polished and very complete-looking silver Tesla Model 3 prototype was caught in rare video footage this week doing test runs on a street outside SpaceX and the Hyperloop test track. Unplugged Performance, which produces upgrades for Tesla vehicles, spotted the prototype cruising around the nearby area. The Model 3 is newest vehicle in the Tesla catalog, with a starting price of $35,000 and an expected production date of summer, 2017. The prototype has made guest appearances at a number of events and venues, including an investor event in January.

Read the article here.

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Tesla launches “Project Loveday” contest for fan-made commercials

This week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk — whose Twitter feed is a much-visited social media site by journalists, Tesla owners, and cleantech aficionados — announced that he would hold a contest for homemade advertisements after receiving a challenge from a fifth grade student. “Thank you for the lovely letter. That sounds like a great idea. We’ll do it!” Musk tweeted to young Bria. The “Project Loveday” contest, which will end on  May 8, 2017, will review the best fan-made commercials. According to the blog post on Tesla’s website, entrants can submit a link to a 90 second or less YouTube video along with a brief description.

Read the article here.

Tesla locks in 20-year deal to provide solar electricity to Kauai Island Utility

On Kauai, which is described by many as the most picturesque of the Hawai’ian islands, daytime reliance on solar energy and other renewables has traditionally dissipated when the sun sets. Now that’s all changing, as the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) is drawing energy from 272 Tesla power packs to provide electricity after dark. The measure will save KIUC 1.6 million gallons of diesel fuel annually and will cut KIUC costs per kilowatt hour from 15.5 cents down to a fixed price of 13.9 cents for the next 20 years. The agreement shifts the power generation from the utility to Tesla, and Tesla is the first company with which any utility company has contracted for a system of this magnitude.

Read the article here.

Leilani Münter will help showcase Tesla race car “biocomposites” made of natural fibers

Electric GT’s Tesla P100D race car will be in Paris on March 15 with Leilani Münter showcasing the car’s high performance composite material made from natural fibers. Swiss firm Bcomp configures natural fibers into ultralight components known as “biocomposites” for the Electric GT race vehicles. These materials are formed by a matrix which mimics the structure of the living materials, maintains strengthening properties, and provides biocompatibility. An environmental activist, Münter believes it is essential for humans to adapt and evolve to a sustainable way that does not destroy the world. The racer is an advocate for renewable energy, solar power, electric cars, and plant-based diets and has been a longtime Tesla protege.

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Carolyn Fortuna is a writer and researcher with a Ph.D. in education from the University of Rhode Island. She brings a social justice perspective to environmental issues. Please follow me on Twitter and Facebook and Google+

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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.

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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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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Credit: Tesla Energy | X

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:

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.

Tesla VPP program in California hits new capacity milestone

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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