All articles tagged with #energy storage
Tesla reported third-quarter 2026 vehicle deliveries of 486,532, exceeding Wall Street estimates but falling 2.1% year-over-year. Production rose 3.8% to 464,391 units, while energy storage deployments increased 9.6% to 13.7 GWh. The company faces headwinds from the expiration of the federal EV tax credit and intense competition from Chinese manufacturers, though its stock rose 5% on the results.
Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in Q3 2026, exceeding analyst expectations but falling 2.1% year-over-year. The Cybertruck and other models saw a 48% sales drop, while energy storage deployments rose 9.6%.
Tesla reported 486,532 vehicle deliveries for the third quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of approximately 462,000. The stock rose 5% on the news, though it remains down 21% year-to-date. While total deliveries fell 2% year-over-year, they rose 1.3% sequentially. Rivian also beat estimates with 19,248 deliveries. However, the Cybertruck continues to underperform, and the broader EV market faces headwinds from Chinese competition and the expiration of U.S. tax credits.
US start-ups are attempting to establish domestic production for sodium-ion batteries, a technology viewed as a cheaper and safer alternative to lithium-ion. While current products rely on Chinese cells, firms like Unigrid, Peak Energy, and Emerald Battery Labs aim to build US supply chains to meet rising demand from data centers and grid storage. Experts note that while sodium-ion offers cost and safety advantages, it remains less energy-dense than lithium-ion, limiting its use in small devices.
GM is pursuing domestically sourced, next-generation battery cells—starting with sodium-ion for energy storage—with a plan to commercialize by 2029 and reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese materials, while Ford faces scrutiny over its China ties.
At IFA 2026 in Berlin, a flood of connected gadgets—from giant LG OLED displays and mood-lit furniture to AI-powered fridges, automated bedrooms, robotic cleaners and power storage—paints a future where homes are fully integrated, but also raises privacy concerns over pervasive AI cameras.
GM and Ford are expanding beyond autos into nontraditional growth areas: U.S. military vehicle contracts and the fast‑growing energy storage systems market. GM has advanced in defense with infantry squad vehicle programs and partnerships like Ultium Cells with LG and battery‑reuse deals with Redwood Materials, while Ford plans a $2 billion ESS push, including converting a Kentucky plant and building residential storage cells in Michigan. Analysts see these ventures as small but potentially meaningful growth pillars that could diversify revenue as EV demand fluctuates and the energy‑storage market grows to meet grid and data‑center needs.
BloombergNEF says President Trump’s Aug. 26 executive order blocking certain foreign-made bulk power equipment—batteries, inverters, transformers—from the grid could delay or cancel many grid-scale storage deployments as developers seek alternatives and await guidance. The order, plus Treasury FEOC rules, heightens supply-chain risk and underscores the need for contract risk assessment, asset mapping, and supplier diversification, with some projects potentially scrapped while domestic manufacturing capacity expands in the coming years.
A CSIRO-led team built a prototype quantum battery that charges in femtoseconds via a superabsorption effect in an optical microcavity, but it stores only a nanoscopic amount of energy for nanoseconds. While not ready to power devices, the work proves rapid energy absorption and extraction is possible and points to potential uses in quantum hardware and faster energy delivery, with ongoing efforts to boost capacity, storage time, and scalability through hybrid quantum-classical designs and linking multiple cells, all at room temperature.
Scientists at CSIRO have unveiled the world’s first working quantum battery prototype that charges faster as its size increases due to a quantum effect called superabsorption inside an optical microcavity. The setup enables femtosecond charging and nanosecond energy storage at room temperature, offering a proof of concept that quantum devices could be powered more efficiently—and perhaps someday energize everyday gadgets. However, the energy stored today is tiny, and challenges like decoherence and energy extraction remain, leaving the path to practical, large-scale use uncertain and likely focused on quantum computing first.
Samsung SDI is buying out GM’s 49.99% stake in their New Carlisle, Indiana battery-plant JV, making it Samsung SDI’s first wholly owned North American factory. GM exits ownership but will maintain a supply relationship and joint-development agreement for next‑gen prismatic batteries. The plant, a $3.5B project with initial 27 GWh (potentially 36 GWh) capacity, targets mass production in 2027 and about 1,600 jobs, and will reportedly add an energy-storage system line as Samsung shifts toward stationary storage amid softer EV demand and a tax-credit backdrop. Investors sent shares down about 4-5% on the news.
Samsung SDI has acquired GM’s 49.99% stake in SynergyCells, making the $3.5 billion Indiana plant fully owned and switching its output from EV prismatic cells to batteries for energy storage systems; the factory is slated to go online next year as Samsung’s first independently operated NA battery plant, while GM pursues a separate path with LG Energy Solution for LMR cells and a future prismatic cell project with Samsung.
Base Power raised $1 billion in a Series D to expand Core, a 39.2 kWh home battery that can back up a house for up to 72 hours with two units, installs in under an hour, and can operate with solar or be recharged from a portable generator; the battery is sold through a Base plan (not owned outright) and participates in a growing virtual power plant to support the grid. The company has rolled Core out in Texas and Illinois and plans nationwide expansion, backed by investors including Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, and JPMorgan Chase’s Strategic Investment Group.
Researchers at the University of Surrey found that keeping water in nanostructured sodium vanadate hydrate dramatically improves sodium-ion battery performance, delivering nearly twice the charge, faster charging, and stability over 400 cycles. The hydrated material also works in saltwater, enabling electrochemical desalination by drawing sodium from water while a graphite electrode removes chloride, suggesting future devices that store energy and purify seawater. While promising, the approach is early-stage and requires more testing before commercial use, but it strengthens sodium-ion technology as a cheaper, more sustainable alternative to lithium.
Chinese researchers report a sodium metal battery using a tough quasi-solid gel electrolyte (Sn-FB QSE) that can fully charge in four minutes and sustain capacity over thousands of hours; in tests, a zero-to-full charge retains about 80.1 mAh/g (roughly half of Li‑ion’s energy density), and charging in 20 minutes preserves ~90% of capacity after 2,000 cycles, indicating potential for cheaper, safer fast-charging EVs and devices. However, replication and scaling are needed before commercialization, and devices like smartphones may face temperature-related stability challenges.