Tesla is working on a new ‘Megapack’ energy module at Gigafactory 1

New information has emerged showing that Tesla is working on a new energy module called ‘Megapack’ to be built at Gigafactory 1.

Someone applying for an internship at Tesla posted on Reddit (since removed) about the position having to do with “embedded/testing the new Megapack.”

We already knew about the “Powerpack”, but “Megapack” is a new product name from Tesla.

Electrek did some digging and found out that other Tesla employees have mentioned working on a new “Megapack energy module” at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada.

During the first half of the year, Jeff Johnson, a former Senior Technical Program Manager at Tesla, worked on a project called “Megapack Energy Module”, according to his Linkedin profile.

He wrote that he “managed build plan, material supply, and schedule for prototype builds for the Megapack module.”

Johnson had previously worked on Tesla battery modules with the latest 2170 battery cells produced at Ggiafactory 1.

In June, the engineer left the automaker to join Northrop Grumman.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently been talking about a new battery module to be introduced next year but it is specific to the Model 3:

“We came up with a new design that achieves the same outcome, that’s actually lighter, better, cheaper and will be introducing that around the end of this year, probably reach volume production on that in Q1 or something. That will make the car lighter, better, and cheaper and achieve a higher range. That line is under construction, will be active in about six months.”

It’s unclear if the new “Megapack” is simply the new and improved battery module or a brand new energy storage product.

Electrek’s Take

Now let’s speculate! I have a few theories.

“Megapack” is sort of in the same vein as “Powerpack”, which could mean that it is a bigger energy storage system that can store >1 MWh of energy capacity instead of the Powerpack’s ~200 kWh.

Tesla has some new much larger stationary energy storage projects in the works, like a massive ‘up to 1.1 GWh’ battery system. It could potentially make use of larger systems.

Considering Tesla is calling its new ultra-powerful Tesla Semi charging stations “Megachargers”, it could also have something to do with that.

It could actually be the same thing as my first theory but specially made for energy storage at Megacharger stations in order to support the extremely high charge rate.

The Tesla Semi is also expected to have a battery pack with a capacity close to a megawatt-hour, which could be also a possibility for the “Megapack”.

So many possibilities! What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.