The Megapack Facility
On February 3rd Tesla fans were treated to a video showcase of the company’s new Megapack factory in Lathrop California.
The video posted on their Twitter account shows off what Tesla boasts is the largest utility-scale battery factory in North America. We get a peek at the main production line - capable of putting out one Megapack unit every 68 minutes - that’s 10,000 a year from just Lathrop.
Megapacks are also still being produced at Giga Nevada, but it’s clear Tesla wants to lean on their shiny new Megapack Factory - especially because there’s a new model of Megapack.
The majority of the showcase highlighted the new Megapack 2 XL units - a bigger, cheaper version of what is internally referred to as the MP1 models.
The new Megapacks are specifically designed to make scaling production easier by using parts already sourced for Tesla’s vehicles - specifically the thermal components, but also Prismatic LFP cells that are provided by battery partner CATL, and similar to the 2170 cells used in some Tesla vehicles.
This cross-use of parts improves the efficiency of production times, and makes use of products that Tesla is not only familiar with - but knows will work.
The use of LFP cells is also why the larger Megapack XL is technically cheaper to produce. These Lithium Iron - or Ferrous - Phosphate cells don’t contain any expensive materials common to other battery types - like Cobalt.
Aside from that, the Megapack 2 XL continues the robust design of its predecessor, with its internals kept neat and compartmentalised to allow for customizability and to reduce any risk of fire spreading to a whole pack, or jumping to neighbouring units - while allowing for simple installation on site.
This is the sort of functionality that’s making Megapacks so popular in energy storage projects around the world - because it’s not just that Megapacks are tough, and don’t require much maintenance - but they’re safe, and it's easy to add or subtract units from a facility.
Tesla’s Lathrop facility will be coming fully online over the course of the year as the company seeks to fulfil a growing list of orders for new Megapack facilities around the world.
It’s likely that they won’t hit that 10,000 unit per year mark for a bit yet, as the technicians are still getting used to their new work area and production procedures take time to develop - but once the Megapack Factory gets into the rhythm of work, it shouldn’t be long until we see something close to those numbers.
The video boasts that 10,000 units is about 40 GWh of storage capacity added to the world’s power grids per year - enough to replace fifty 200 MW fossil fuel plants. Even if they can only commit to half of those numbers, that’s still an incredible contribution to ending the world’s reliance on oil and gas.
Megapack just might be Tesla’s most important project.