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Tesla poised to unlock vehicle-to-grid abilities with ‘bi-directional’ charging systems

(Credit: InfoQ/YouTube)

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It appears that Tesla is building up to the eventual release of vehicle to grid (V2G) features for its fleet. Hints of this technology could be seen in the codes within the company’s vehicles, as well as the recent findings of Cruise Staff fleet Reliability Engineer Marco Gaxiola, who happened to perform an analysis of Tesla’s electric vehicle charger for the Model 3. 

For the most part, Tesla has been pretty quiet about its intentions to roll out a vehicle to grid feature for its fleet. Elon Musk mentioned that it may be worth revisiting V2G in a tweet back in July 2018, but he has been quite silent about the technology since then. That being said, Tesla hacker-enthusiast @greentheonly mentioned that some references to V2G have actually been in the company’s vehicles for over a year. 

Among this is the presence of logic that would allow DC to flow out of a Tesla’s battery pack. The hacker-enthusiast summed up his observations as follows “There’s logic to allow DC to flow out the battery pack. So you can supply an external grid-tie invertor with that and let it do the rest of the magic. Making it part of the HPWC would make a lot of sense in my view,” he wrote. 

Vehicle to grid features are not new in the EV sphere. The Nissan Leaf, one of the first mainstream electric cars, had this feature, though its V2G technology could be used more like a manual backup power supply. This made the Leaf’s V2G solutions rather limited. But when V2G is taken at scale, and if vehicles are in smart communication with the power grid, things become a lot more compelling. 

Back in 2015, Tesla CTO JB Straubel noted that once there are a million Teslas on the road, the fleet could actually have significant controllable load capacity. This milestone was reached recently by Tesla, with the company producing its millionth vehicle, a red Model Y Performance, earlier this year. And considering that Tesla is now taking on the mainstream market with the Model Y and Model 3, there is a good chance that the growth of its fleet would only accelerate over time. If Tesla were to roll out V2G features for its cars, now, or the near future, would be a preferable time to do it. 

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But this is not all. In a recent statement to Electrek, Cruise Staff fleet Reliability Engineer Marco Gaxiola noted that the Model 3’s charger has the necessary technology to enable bidirectional charging features. Gaxiola came to his conclusions after doing a deep dive on the Model 3 charger. “What I learned on reverse engineering the Model 3 charger, was that the design is fully bidirectional. This means power can be converted from AC to DC the same way as the previous example, but also power can flow in reverse direction, coming from the battery and ending up on the AC side,” he told the publication.

In a following LinkedIn post, the Cruise engineer noted that Tesla would likely be able to roll out its V2G features to its fleet through a software update. This could open up a lot of opportunities for electric car owners, as they could actually sell some of their vehicles’ power back to the grid. 

“I believe this will be a big game changer for all the car companies looking to get into the EV market. But will also be an interesting new road to get into the utility market. Imagine that you own this vehicle, and one morning you receive an update notification that will enable this feature, which will convert your vehicle into an energy storage V2G/V2V smart system with wheels. 

“You will technically be able to take energy from any AC outlet at a good rate (via your traditional L1 or L2 wall charger) and later then drive somewhere else, plug back again into another L1/L2 charger, but instead of charging you could potentially sell some of your Tesla juice back at a higher rate. This, without the need of any electrical modifications on your Tesla/Non-Tesla wall charger,” Gaxiola wrote.

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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.

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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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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. 

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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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