A recent drone flyover of the Tesla Lathrop Megafactory has indicated that the facility is pushing out Megapack batteries at a healthy pace this first quarter. During the flyover, which was conducted on February 28, 2024, 311 Megapacks were spotted on the Lathrop Megafactory’s premises.
The aerial footage of the Lathrop Megafactory was posted on YouTube by Tesla watcher Met God in Wilderness, who has been chronicling the developments of the Fremont Factory and the Megapack plant for some time now. As could be seen in the Tesla watcher’s recent footage, most of the Lathrop Megafactory’s holding area across the road has been filled with Megapacks.
The Tesla Megapack comes in two configurations: a 2-hour version offering 1.9 MW of power and 3.9 MWh of energy and a 4-hour variant delivering 1 MW of power and 3.9 MWh of energy. Including installation charges, the 2-hour Megapack costs $2,081,060, while the 4-hour variant costs $1,865,370. Excluding installation charges, the 2-hour Megapack variant costs $1,278,860 and the 4-hour variant costs $1,227,090.
Tesla also estimates an annual maintenance cost of around $8,830 for the flagship battery. Maintenance costs are expected to escalate at 2% per year.
331 Tesla Megapacks (worth ~$500M) spotted at their Lathrop Megafactory.
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 28, 2024
Drone video: https://t.co/M7FTN4ZQtu pic.twitter.com/GUNmTsLVFd
Considering the number of Megapacks that were spotted in the recent drone flyover, Tesla watchers have estimated that the batteries that were captured in the Tesla watcher’s video were worth about $500 million in revenue. If Tesla could deliver a substantial number of the Megapacks to customers before the end of March, the company’s Q1 2024 earnings could see substantial contributions from the Lathrop Megafactory.
While arguably not as dynamic or exciting as Tesla’s electric vehicles, Tesla’s energy storage devices like the Megapack are playing an increasingly large role in the company’s overall business. During the Q4 and FY 2023 earnings call, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja noted that Tesla Energy’s growth is poised to surpass the growth of the company’s auto business in 2024.
The Lathrop Megafactory is expected to see some notable improvements this year. During the Q4 and FY 2023 earnings call, Tesla executives noted that the Lathrop Megafactory would be ramping through 2024, with the addition of a second final assembly line expected to double the site’s capacity from 20 to 40 GWh by the end of the year.
Watch the Tesla watcher’s recent flyover of the Lathrop Megafactory below.
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