Former Tesla SVP Drew Baglino explains why working in-office accelerates hardware product development and part reuse across engineering teams.
Assertion Supported
Baglino: Tesla Energy Relied on Auto Business Before Reaching Standalone Profitability
“The energy business was heavily supported by the vehicle business through many years, to be frank, but finally kind of got out of that bird's nest and was able to fly on its own and generate serious profits and bring cash back to the Tesla broader company, and…”
Assertion Supported
Baglino: Panasonic supply bottlenecks forced Tesla to cut Powerwall production in 2017-2018
“Especially as we got into the 2017 and 2018, there was a cell sort of pinch. Panasonic was having a hard time ramping, and we didn't have enough cells to go around between vehicles and energy, and so we had to kind of, like, pare back on the Powerwall build pl…”
Assertion Supported
Baglino: Tesla prioritized vehicles over energy products during COVID chip shortages
“The same thing happened, by the way, in the COVID crisis where, you know, there were semiconductor shortages. It was kind of like, hey, vehicles, the breadwinner energy, you know, you're going to have to get the scraps and figure it out. And I don't, I think t…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Baglino: Tesla Optimus Progress Leverages Automotive Simulation and AI Stack
“When you look at, like, Optimus as an example, which is the robot program at Tesla, like, why is Optimus going quickly at Tesla? It's because, you know, hey, we're, there's a lot of reuse of platform technologies, whether it's, like, how do you opt, like, a si…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Baglino: Having a battery offering was almost existential for SolarCity
“When SolarCity saw the coming sort of net metering change of policy, they knew that it was almost existential to them to have a great battery offering.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Baglino: LG's Tesla Energy bet unlocked vehicle cell deals in China
“Ultimately, you know, they took a bet on Tesla on our team on the energy side and it ended up paying off for them when they ended up getting an opportunity to participate with the vehicle business in China and vehicle business in other places.”