Internship, Mechanical Design Engineer, Residential Energy Engineering (Winter/Spring 2027)

What to Expect

Consider before submitting an application:

This position is expected to start January 2027 and continue through the entire Winter/Spring term (i.e through April/May 2026) or into Summer 2027 if available. We ask for a minimum of 12 weeks, full-time (40 hours/week) and on-site, for most internships.

International Students: If your work authorization is through CPT, please consult your school before applying. You must be able to work 40 hours per week. Many students will be limited to part-time during the academic year.

The Internship Recruiting Team is driven by the passion to recognize and develop emerging talent. Our year-round program places the best students in positions where they will grow technically, professionally, and personally through their experience working closely with their Manager, Mentor, and team. We are dedicated to providing an experience that allows the intern to experience life at Tesla by including them in projects that are critical to their team’s success.

The Residential Energy Hardware Engineering team is a close-knit group of hands on mechanical and electrical engineers. We work in a space crowded with regulatory requirements and competitors and suppliers often invested in the status quo. Our team’s job is to ignore the status quo, challenge rules where appropriate, and implement fundamentals-only engineering to make the absolute best products possible to provide energy storage, EV charging, and solar integration to the home. Our mission is to get the residential electrical infrastructure ready for the tumultuous future ahead, deliver value in our products which make people happy, and fight climate change while we’re at it.

The Industrial Energy Enclosure Engineering team is a small group of hands-on mechanical engineers. Our charter is to design robust and reliable electronics enclosures to enable the successful deployment and operation of Tesla’s Utility scale storage and Supercharging products. We work in a space crowded with regulatory requirements where competitors and suppliers are often invested in the status quo. Our team’s job is to ignore the status quo, challenge rules where appropriate, and implement fundamentals only engineering to make the absolute best products possible.

The Service Engineering team is the organization responsible for the engineering and project execution of solar and storage projects, as well as the overall health and performance of all Energy Products operating in the field. The team includes engineering expertise from project design to power systems analyses, project managers and construction estimators, data analysts and data infrastructure engineers, and product engineers with a variety of electrical and mechanical engineering backgrounds. This team sits at the center of business development, Tesla technology, and the deployment of Energy Products. As a member of our team, you will help to shape the success of our Energy business globally. You must have a genuine passion for enabling successful products and projects that will fundamentally change the world’s energy infrastructure and must want to work in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Location: Palo Alto, CA

What You’ll Do

• Full product design responsibility, from concept through production launch and ramp
• 3D design of complex parts and assemblies + FEA
• Advancing product performance while driving down cost and complexity
• Developing new technologies, supported with early process development
• Relentless improvement of existing products
• Hands-on prototyping
• Specification definition (dimensional, functional, performance, manufacturing)
• Meticulous release of 2D part and assembly drawings
• Owning basic testing and analysis; supporting advanced testing and analysis
• Root causing test failures and production problems
• Collaboration with other teams inside Tesla (manufacturing, testing, NPI, supply chain)
• Close, active supplier relationships
• Travel to support production launch and ramp (supplier visits, on-site at Tesla factories)

What You’ll Bring

• Currently pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field
• Strong Engineering fundamentals in heat transfer, fluids, mechanics, and electronics
• Basic understanding of material science of components used in mechanical design (metals, insulators, plastics, connectors, gaskets)
• Desire to own a lot and work hard - we have small teams and fast timelines
• Demonstrated ability or ability to learn to create products: CAD design to hand on prototyping
• Direct machine shop skills a plus
• A detail-oriented personality with solid documentation and reporting skills
• Experience with student Formula Vehicle, Solar Car, Hyperloop etc. a plus
• Knowledge of GD&T, finite element analysis and design for reliability concepts
• Experience with CATIA V5 or V6
• Working knowledge of Matlab or Python
• Basic understanding of electrical design fundamentals