The Tesla Energy business expanded in Q1 2024 to a new quarterly record as the battery energy storage system (BESS) segment continued to grow.
According to the company, in Q1, Energy generation and storage revenues increased by 7% year-over-year to $1.635 billion (7.7% of the total revenues), while the cost of revenues amounted to $1.232 billion. Tesla added that the segment was its highest-margin business with a record gross profit.
Tesla reports that in Q1 its BESS deployment increased by 4% year-over-year to 4,053 megawatt-hours (MWh) or 4.05 gigawatt-hours (GWh). It seems that this year will be strong for Tesla BEES sales with more records expected in the following quarters.
However, let’s remember that 4 GWh of batteries is equivalent to 40,000 EV battery packs (100 kWh each), so it’s an order of magnitude lower in volume than Tesla’s EV battery business.
Tesla battery energy storage system deployment last quarter (YOY change):
- Q1’2024: 4,053 MWh (up 4%)
Tesla revealed recently that its second general assembly line is now commissioned at its Megafactory in Lathrop, California, supporting the target full capacity of 40 GWh annually (as announced in 2021).
According to CnEVPost, Tesla will begin construction of its second Megapack factory in Shanghai, China in May 2024. This investment has been hinted at in 2023.
Tesla offers three main types of ESS products (all numbers tentative/might change with future product iterations):
- Powerwall 3 for home installations (13.5 kWh / 11.5 kW of continuous power output)
- Powerpack for commercial installations (Up to 232 kWh / Up to 130 kW per unit)
- Megapack (3 MWh units the largest project by utilities)
In mid-2023, Tesla Powerwall installations surpassed 500,000 units globally, while the company officially launched the third generation of the product, which is called Powerwall 3.
Tesla Powerwall
Tesla Powerpack
Tesla Megapack
On the other hand, Tesla’s solar business was fading over the past few quarters and the first quarter of 2024 was no exception. Tesla admitted a decrease in solar deployments, without providing any numbers, as it usually did.
We assume that the solar business (conventional panels and Solar Roof) is not in good shape and with slim chances of a serious rebound, because otherwise, Tesla would still report the results.
Tesla remains silent in its quarterly report about the Solar Roof installation progress. The Solar Roof is produced at Gigafactory 2 in New York.
Tesla solar (conventional panels and Solar Roof) deployment last quarter (YOY change):
- Q1-Q4’2023: 223 MWh (down 36%)
Tesla’s solar solutions:
Tesla Solar Panels
Tesla Solar Roof
