Tesla Lathrop Megafactory spotted with 337 Megapack batteries

Posted on

Tesla Energy seems to be well on its way to ending 2023 on a strong note. This was hinted at by a rather large fleet of 337 Megapack batteries that was recently sighted at the Megafactory in Lathrop, California.

The Tesla Megapack is the electric vehicle maker’s flagship battery storage system. Designed specifically for grid use, the Megapack has been deployed in several notable projects around the world. These include a 150 MW/300 MWh Tesla Megapack system in New South Wales, Australia and a 182 MW/730 MWh battery farm in Moss Landing, California. 

Tesla currently offers two variants of the Megapack: a 2-hour version that offers 1.9 MW of power and 3.9 MWh of energy and a 4-hour version that offers 1 MW of power and 3.9 MWh of energy. The batteries are priced at $1,908,590 for the four-hour variant with installation and $2,123,590 for the two-hour variant with installation. Without installation fees, the Megapack costs $1,321,390 for the two-hour variant and $1,270,310 for the four-hour variant.

Considering that longtime Tesla watcher Met God in Wilderness was able to spot 337 Megapack batteries at the Lathrop Megafactory during a flyover on November 2, 2023, one could estimate that the battery fleet at the site could be worth about $500 million. Elon Musk hinted as much during the Q3 2023 earnings call when he noted that Tesla Energy was becoming the company’s highest-margin business. 

“Regarding energy storage, we deployed 4 GWh of energy storage products in Q3. And as this business grows, the Energy division is becoming our highest-margin business. Energy and service now contribute over half a billion to quarterly profit,” Musk said. 

While the Lathrop Megafactory is already producing large numbers of Megapack batteries, the facility is still being ramped by Tesla. As per the electric vehicle maker in its Q3 2023 Update Letter, the company’s energy storage deployments increased by 90% YoY in Q3 to 4.0 GWh, which was Tesla’s highest quarterly deployment ever. The Megafactory is also being ramped towards its full capacity of 40 GWh with its phase two expansion. 

Watch the recent drone flyover of the Lathrop Megafactory in the video below. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Tesla Lathrop Megafactory spotted with 337 Megapack batteries

Source

What Tesla has to do to achieve $4T valuation according to Elon Musk

Posted on

Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes the electric automaker can achieve a $4 trillion valuation, but he knows the road to the accomplishment is going to be a long one.

Yesterday, we reported on Ron Baron, a billionaire investor who has been one of Musk’s longest believers, stating that Tesla could reach a massive valuation of $4 trillion.

Tesla investor who made billions on stock says SpaceX will be bigger

Baron said that his firm has made many multiples of its initial investment and, at its peak, was up over $5 billion. He believes SpaceX has an opportunity to be an even bigger golden egg when it goes public, which he believes will happen within three years.

Musk stated on X earlier today that he does believe Tesla can reach that type of valuation if the company “can knock it out of the park several times.”

Tesla has a few things in the works that could help achieve this valuation.

One is the Full Self-Driving suite, which Musk has said for years that the company will solve “this year.” By “this year,” he does not mean 2023 specifically because he has said nearly every year since 2015 that it will be the year FSD is solved.

Tesla has made progress on its FSD suite, but it admitted in 2023 that the semi-autonomous driving software is still a Level 2 SAE autonomous classification. Level 5 would be enough to allow drivers not to do anything when the car is in operation.

FSD would open up opportunities for the company’s Robotaxi fleet to begin operation, allowing drivers to sleep while their vehicle performs a ride-hailing service.

Scaling production to millions of EVs every year and selling millions of cars in various markets would also help Tesla’s valuation, but that has several moving parts, including the launch of more Gigafactories and more affordable cars, which has been in the pipeline for the company for several years.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

What Tesla has to do to achieve $4T valuation according to Elon Musk

Source

Tesla spotted testing Cybertruck ‘crab driving’ at Giga Texas

Posted on

Tesla has touted the Cybertruck’s rear-wheel-steering in the past, but a new video taken at the automaker’s factory in Austin, Texas, this week shows the company testing the feature with an interesting driving maneuver.

In a clip shared on X on Wednesday by drone pilot and Gigafactory Texas scout Joe Tegtmeyer, you can see Tesla testing out a “crab driving” or “crab walking” technique by using the rear-wheel-steering to maneuver forward while driving at an angle. The short clip takes place in a dirt construction lot area of Giga Texas, and when you look closely, you can see the rear wheels at a slight angle, giving the vehicle a tilted forward approach.

You can see the full clip posted by Tegtmeyer below. Tegtmeyer also says he plans to release a longer video from his time at Giga Texas on Wednesday, and this story will be updated to include the full video upon release.

As the video might suggest, rear-wheel-steering, also called four-wheel-steering, could be crucial for use at job sites, in off-road situations or in other scenarios where an extra tight turn radius or the ability to “crab drive” may come in handy. Tesla is not the first automaker to deploy rear-wheel-steering, though it certainly looks unique when the Cybertruck uses it.

The Cybertruck has been spotted testing several times in the last few months, both on public roads and around Tesla’s factories. In September, the Cybertruck’s rear-wheel-steering was seen being used to perform a U-turn at an intersection, and the feature has been shown off by Tesla at other times in the past, too.

The sighting also comes ahead of Tesla’s Cybertruck delivery event later this month, which is set to take place on November 30. The event will be held at Giga Texas, and Tesla is offering shareholders the chance to win tickets to see the event in person with a random drawing.

Tesla aiming to get Cybertruck 0-60 mph under 3 seconds: Elon Musk

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

Tesla spotted testing Cybertruck ‘crab driving’ at Giga Texas

Source