is a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home , a podcast from Vox Media and Audible Originals.
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At an event in Las Vegas yesterday, Tesla revealed a new utility-scale battery configuration that it claims can significantly lower construction costs for utilities, along with faster installation. Its new “Megablock” is pre-engineered; more assembly done in a factory allows for 23 percent faster installation, according to Tesla. That’s supposed to translate to up to 40 percent lower construction costs.
It’s essentially supposed to be a plug-and-play platform, incorporating hardware and software services, to help utilities quickly meet rising electricity demands from data centers, electrified homes and vehicles, and manufacturing.
The Megablock incorporates Megapack 3, the latest iteration of Tesla’s battery storage system that the company also debuted at the same event. The latest Megapack has a “drastically simplified” thermal bay with 78 percent fewer connections to minimize failure points, Tesla said at the event and on X, and uses “the Tesla Model Y heat pump essentially on steroids.”
The Megapack 3 will be manufactured in Houston starting late next year, the company added. But Tesla still relies on BYD and CATL to supply battery cells, Electrek notes.