Tesla Megapacks near arrival at massive Melbourne renewables project

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Tesla Megapacks are getting ready to arrive on-site at a massive upcoming energy storage site in Australia, according to one official.

The Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub (MREH) is currently under construction near Melton, Victoria, and it will soon receive 444 Megapacks, according to a post on X on Thursday from Victoria Minister Lily D’Ambrosio. When complete, the battery project will total 600 MW and 1.6 GWh of energy storage, capable of powering around 200,000 homes in times of peak electrical grid use.

The project was also detailed by the SEC in a press release in November, when construction crews officially broke ground on the site.

The project is being developed by the recently rebooted State Electricity Commission (SEC), in partnership with renewable energy investor Equis Energy. Equis Energy has developed 220 separate renewable infrastructure projects across multiple countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including around 39 projects currently being developed in Australia.

“We’re building critical energy projects under the SEC – investing in our grid so household bills go down for every Victorian with cheaper and more reliable renewable energy across the state,” said Jacinta Allan, Victoria Premier, in the November release.

The SEC plans to invest $245 million into the MREH project as its first investment, while the total cost of the project is valued at around $1 billion. It also comes as part of a larger SEC initiative to build 4.5 GW of new renewable energy generation and storage projects. The BESS will also create over 155 new jobs, as well as 14 apprenticeship roles.

Additionally, the Labor Government is targeting 2.6 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030, and 6.3 GW by 2035. The project is aiming to have the BESS operational by 2025, and will be added to the now-long list of Australian BESS projects planning to use, or already using, Tesla Megapacks.

You can see the fact sheet for the MREH project here, and you can also watch a video detailing the project below.

Victoria also has what has been dubbed the “Victoria Big Battery,” a 212-Megapack, 300 MW/450 MWh system, which went online in 2021. More recently, it has been reported that the Neoen, the company that runs the Victoria Big Battery, has won a contract to help develop the Collie battery into a 560 MW/2,240 MWh system using Megapacks, which will make it Australia’s largest BESS upon completion.

Tesla is currently ramping up production of the Megapack at its Megafactory in Lathrop, California, which is expected to eventually be able to produce 10,000 Megapacks per year. In addition, Tesla has started construction on another Megafactory in Shanghai, China, which is aiming for the same annual output.

Updated 5:30 p.m. MT: Edited ninth paragraph for accuracy.

Tesla Megapack deployment, profitability reached all-time highs in Q1

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Tesla Megapacks near arrival at massive Melbourne renewables project





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Tesla displays Model 3 Performance and Cybertruck in Macau

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Tesla has a new display of the upgraded Model 3 Performance and the Cybertruck set up in Macau, as shown at a conference in the administrative region.

A few weeks ago, Tesla officially started selling the Model 3 Performance on sale on its website, and while the Cybertruck isn’t available in the area, both vehicles are now on display at a mobility expo. On Friday evening, the Tesla Macau account posted a photo of the display on X, showing the display at the Car, Sky, and Vehicle Expo at the Venetian Cotai Expo Hall A.

The display includes a Model Y, a Cybertruck, and a Model 3 Performance, and it comes after the account noted that the Cybertruck had reached the region on May 2.

Credit: Tesla Macau | X

Currently, the Model 3 Performance is available in Macau for MOP $292,600 (~$50,313), while the Cybertruck isn’t yet available outside the U.S. The display also follows the Cybertrucks tour across much of China and, more recently, in other areas of the world like Japan and several cities across Europe and the Middle East.

Tesla launched the highly anticipated Model 3 Performance in several countries last month, after multiple prototypes of the vehicle had been spotted in the wild, and after one executive in January confirmed that the vehicle would be coming out at some point.

The new Performance Model 3 has a 2.9-second 0-60mph acceleration, a top speed of 163mph, and the electric vehicle’s (EV’s) fourth generation drive unit offers 22 percent more continuous power, 32 percent more peak power, and an additional 16 percent of peak torque, in comparison with the Model 3’s last-gen drive unit.

The news also comes as Tesla has seemingly been preparing to launch Full Self-Driving (FSD) in China, after the system gained tentative approval in the country late last month.

Elon Musk shares Tesla Cybertruck FSD release update

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Tesla displays Model 3 Performance and Cybertruck in Macau





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Tesla seems to have appointed the next head of its 4680 battery program

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It appears that Tesla may have selected the next head of its ambitious 4680 battery cell program. Less than a month after former SVP Powertrain and Energy Engineering Drew Baglino left the company, Tesla appears to have named Bonne Eggleston as the next head of its 4680 battery cell division. 

Reports about Eggleston’s apparent appointment initially emerged in China, with tech publication LatePost stating that the newly-promoted executive had reportedly conducted a department-wide meeting where he announced a moratorium on layoffs. This does not mean that Tesla’s 4680 team will have any time to rest, however, as the report also noted that the company is reportedly looking to achieve its cost reduction targets by the end of the year. 

LatePost claimed in its report that Tesla is looking to achieve significant cost reductions compared to the price of comparable batteries from suppliers like Panasonic and LG Energy Solution. 

Citing people reportedly familiar with the matter, the Chinese publication claimed that Tesla had been aiming to make its self-produced batteries cheaper than those provided by suppliers at the beginning of this year. Battery department managers were reportedly informed at the time that Tesla may scrap its 4680 efforts if the target cost reductions were not achieved by the end of the year. 

Prior to Eggleston’s apparent appointment as the new head of Tesla’s 4680 program, the company’s battery materials department had reportedly laid off about half of its workforce. The 4680 team itself reportedly saw a 20% employee reduction, which effectively left just about 800 people.

Eggleston, for his part, seemed to have confirmed his apparent appointment as Tesla’s next 4680 program head. In a response to a post on X that discussed the LatePost report, Eggleston replied with two emojis that were taken by electric vehicle watchers as a subtle confirmation of the recent news. 

Tesla’s 4680 batteries are a key component of the company’s future. The batteries are currently being used in the Cybertruck, which is being produced at Giga Texas. Provided that Tesla masters the production ramp and cost reductions of its 4680 batteries, it would not be surprising if vehicles like the dedicated Robotaxi “Cybercab” will also be powered by the next-generation cells.

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Tesla seems to have appointed the next head of its 4680 battery program





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