In the Abuse Testing & Engineering group, we push energy storage and power electronics to their limits and beyond using specialized equipment to apply electrical, mechanical, and thermal stresses. Our goal is to provide rapid feedback to inform designs early in development, by understanding how robust systems perform under abusive conditions. We accommodate external regulations but have a strong focus on internal requirements and test to failure. Every Tesla battery product comes through our lab, both vehicles and energy storage. Our environment is fast-paced and incredibly exciting.

We are looking for an Engineer to test a variety of electrically abusive scenarios for power electronics and battery systems across both vehicle and energy products. In this role, you would collaborate with “Pack” and Electronics Design Engineers to design subscale and full-scale tests that meet our requirements, as small as a single cell and as large as an entire product. You would own the testing, through planning and execution (with technician support), results summary and shared decision-making with design teams, resulting in products with world-class safety performance.

• Engage electronics and battery pack teams to understand and prioritize test needs
• Create test plans and execute tests such as FET shoot-through, overvoltage, overcurrent, arc flash, electrical joints failure, or conductive fluid exposure.
• Develop sub-pack-scale tests to study novel failure modes with higher fidelity
• Develop any new test equipment needed to conduct tests
• Anticipate and mitigate test execution hazards
• Share results and maintain documentation to be easily referenced by other teams
• Recreate field incidents and suggest countermeasures

• Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Applied Physics Engineering or equivalent experience
• 5+ years’ experience in physically applied engineering (lab testing, development, hobby or school projects)
• Must be hands-on (wiring, prototyping, troubleshooting, instrumentation)
• Enjoys working in cross-functional groups and leading technicians
• Able to plan many concurrent activities in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment
• Up to 20% travel
• Bonus: experience with CAN bus, battery management systems, Python, National Instruments data acquisition hardware / LabVIEW, CAD, oscilloscopes and related high voltage probes, or similar