Tesla plans “many more” Megapack factories as grid battery sales quadruple

Tesla says it plans to build many more battery “mega-factories” as demand for grid scale battery storage soared nearly four-fold in the first quarter of 2023, outstripping the growth in electric vehicles.

Tesla boss and major shareholder Elon Musk says he expects the energy storage business will overtake the EV business – at least in terms of kilowatt hours installed – as it is essential for a global zero carbon grid, and says the company’s profit margins are approaching its EV margins and heading for 20 per cent.

“We’re making great progress,” Musk told investors at the release of the company’s first quarter earnings on Wednesday evening (US time). “Our energy storage deployment reached nearly four gigawatt hours in Q1. It’s by far the strongest quarter.”

The exact numbers came in at 3.9GWh, a near four-fold increase on the same quarter a year ago, and easily the best to date, credited largely to the ramping up of production at the company’/s first dedicated megafactory at Lathrop in California.

Tesla says there is room for more capacity at Lathrop and it will shortly begin construction on a new 40GWh battery factory in Shanghai.

CFO Zac Kirkhorn says the utility battery storage business is improving margins and expects to match those of the EV business (around 20 per cent) by the end of the year.

Tesla megapack batteries are currently being installed in Australia at the Chinchilla (200MWh) and Bouldercombe (100MWh) batteries in Queensland, the 300MWh Riverina batteries in NSW, and will also be used at the 400MWh Western Downs battery in Queensland.

See RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia