Tesla’s Horde Of Megapacks Is The Beginning Of The End Of Fossil Fuel Dependence
Tesla has a horde of Megapacks, a total of 157 units, being prepared for delivery to its energy customers. This is the beginning of the end of fossil fuel dependence. Yes, we have a long ways to go before we are fully recovered from our dependence on fossil fuels, but this is an incredible step toward that journey.
Sawyer Merritt recently shared a photo of the Megapacks being prepped at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada. The article noted that Tesla’s customers are well versed in pics of ready-to-ship cars and large volumes of vehicle deliveries, but this time, it’s Megapacks that have been spotted. In his tweet, Sawyer also shared a look at Tesla Semi Megachargers that were being installed in the southeast corner.
Here are the Semi Megachargers being installed at the Southeast corner. pic.twitter.com/lf2wLLkQyL
— Sawyer Merritt 📈🚀 (@SawyerMerritt) October 26, 2021
The article also mentioned Tesla’s recent Q3 report. In Q3 2021, Tesla’s energy storage deployments increased a whopping 71% year-over-year. In response to the growing demand for clean energy, Tesla started building its first Megafactory in Lathrop, CA. The company broke ground in September and it was recently announced that Tesla would bring 1,000 to 2,000 new clean energy jobs to the area. San Joaquin County Supervisors Chairman Tom Patti called this an opportunity for workers to have a tech manufacturing job without commuting all the way to the Bay Area.
In its quarterly update for Q3, Tesla said:
“Energy storage deployments increased by 71% YoY in Q3, mainly driven by strong Megapack deployments. We recently announced our new Megapack factory with a capacity of 40 GWh, which compares to total Megapack deployments of 3 GWh in the last 12 months. We are very excited about the broader potential of this product.”
In 2020, BBC noted that Tesla’s Megapack battery technology and other big batteries addressed a key challenge for green or clean energy and the article pointed out that it was these batteries that could make fossil fuels obsolete. We’ve been writing that for more than a decade here on CleanTechnica, but BBC had gathered more info worth a gaze. The article compiled a list of sites that were moving from coal or other types of fossil fuels to renewables with battery storage. The article noted that the USA’s utility-scale battery power capacity was set to grow from 1.2 gigawatts in 2020 to nearly 7.5 gigawatts in 2025.
Earlier this year, YaleEnvironment360 published a report and noted that the mass deployment of storage could overcome one of the largest obstacles to renewable energy, which is cycling between oversupply when the sun/wind is in abundance and a shortage of that abundance.
Fast forward almost a year later and here we have the photo that Sawyer shared of Tesla Megapacks being prepared for deliveries. A year ago today, we reported on Tesla Megapacks ordered for the Wallgrove substation west of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. This particular battery has the ability to reduce the grid’s need for old coal and gas plants. The battery is nearly ready to go online. This Megapack project and others planned around New South Wales are aimed at preparing the state to retire its coal fleet.
Albuquerque Public Schools just announced that it is taking on a big clean energy and energy storage project in a joint initiative with Sandia National Laboratories, the U.S. Department of Energy, the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, the Clean Energy States Alliance, and OE Solar. This project, with a budget of $3.2 million, will provide solar power and battery storage for Atrisco Heritage Academy High School and will contain a Tesla Megapack 2, which has an electricity storage capacity of 2884 kWh. There will also be 2,208 solar panels on the roof that will have a power capacity of 850 kilowatts. The project is expected to help the school save around $3.5 million on its electricity bill over the next 25 years.
Another key takeaway from the announcement is that this new project will allow the school to act as a regional neighborhood shelter during emergencies or disasters.
Many companies that have purchased Tesla Megapacks are not only taking steps to end their dependence on fossil fuels but are setting a path for others to follow.
One key challenge for Tesla is one that many companies and even governments are about to face, and this is the supply chain issue that is currently happening. Tesla has proven its ability to navigate such challenges time and time again, but it has also been supply limited when it comes to batteries for years — as recently stated again on the company’s last conference call for shareholders.
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A massive Tesla Megapack project with 1.3 GWh of energy storage capacity is coming online in Arizona – making it one of the largest battery systems.
Salt River Project (SRP) and Plus Power LLC are behind the massive project.
Yesterday, they announced that it is coming online and should provide enough power for 76,000 homes:
Salt River Project (SRP) and Plus Power LLC today celebrated two new grid-charged battery storage systems, Sierra Estrella Energy Storage and Superstition Energy Storage. Together, these facilities will add 340 megawatts (MW) / 1,360 megawatt-hours (MWh) of additional battery storage capacity to SRP’s system – enough to power 76,000 residential homes for a four-hour period. The batteries will absorb excess energy when customer demand is lower and store it for use during times of peak demand.
By being turned on, it automatically became the largest standalone battery system in Arizona and one of the biggest in the US.
Plus Power has been using Tesla Megapacks in many of its energy storage projects, like the one that replaced Hawaii’s last coal power plant.
The Megapack has quickly become the go-to solution for large-scale energy storage projects.
Last quarter, Tesla deployed a record amount of energy storage, 4 GWh, and most of that is believed to be Megapacks.
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EV maker Rivian (RIVN) reaffirmed its plans to build 57,000 vehicles this year during its 2024 Investor Day. More importantly, Rivian still expects to achieve a positive gross profit by the end of the year.
Rivian still on track for positive gross profit in Q4 2024
Rivian gave us a sneak peek into what we can expect as the EV maker transitions to its next growth stage during its first Investor Day on Thursday.
After launching not one but three products (R1T, R1S, and Commercial Van), Rivian lost over $139,000 on every vehicle built in the third quarter of 2022.
Since then, Rivian has made drastic progress in cutting costs. In the first three months of the year, Rivian lost $38,784 per EV built, an improvement of over $100,000. However, that number is still up from the $32.5K and $30.5K losses in Q2 and Q3, 2023.
| Q3 ’22 | Q4 ’22 | Q1 ’23 | Q2 ’23 | Q3 ’23 | Q4 ’23 | Q1 ’24 | |
| Rivian loss per vehicle | $139,277 | $124,162 | $67,329 | $32,594 | $30,500 | $43,372 | $38,784 |
Rivian shut down its Normal, IL, manufacturing plant in April for a host of upgrades. According to CEO RJ Scaringe, the changes have resulted in “significant” cost reductions.
As a result, Rivian expects to achieve its first positive gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2024. On Thursday, Rivian reaffirmed that it’s on track to hit the milestone by the end of the year.
Rivian believes that, between significant material and labor cost reductions, it will be enough as it strives to earn a profit.
2024 production goal in sight
Rivian also confirmed it’s on track to build 57,000 vehicles this year. Despite production slipping in Q1 (13,980 vs 17,541 in Q4 2023), Rivian expected a slowdown with the planned plant shutdown.
The EV maker expects lower production in Q2 between 9,100 and 9,300 units. Second-quarter deliveries are forecasted to be between 13,000 and 13,300, slightly lower than the 13,588 handed over in Q1.
Rivian expects to ramp production in the second half of the year. Following the R2 launch in early 2026, it expects production capacity to reach 215,000 units.
The smaller, more affordable R2 is expected to represent 155,000 of the total 215,000 production capacity.
Once Rivian’s Georgia plant opens, output is expected to surge with 200,000 production capacity on line 1 and another 200,000 on line 2.
Rivian’s new partnership with Volkswagen earned it new confidence as its stock surged over 20%. Several analysts praised the move, including Dan Ives from Wedbush. Ives said the deal can “change the game for Rivian” on its path to profitability.
Source: Rivian
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