Internship, Materials Engineer, Cell Engineering; Summer

Position: Internship, Materials Engineer, Cell Engineering (Summer 2026)
What to Expect

Consider before submitting an application:

This position is expected to start around May 2026 and continue through the entire Summer term (i.e. through August 2026) or into Fall 2026 if available. We ask for a minimum of 12 weeks, full-time and on-site, for most internships.

International Students:
If your work authorization is through CPT, please consult your school on your ability to work 40 hours per week before applying. You must be able to work 40 hours per week on-site. 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 experience working closely with Manager, Mentor, and team. We are dedicated to providing an experience that allows the intern to experience life at Tesla by including projects that are critical to team's success.

Multiple Locations Possible:
Fremont, CA;
Austin, TX;
Hutto, TX, Robstown, TX;
Reno, NV

What You'll Do

Qualified applicants may be reviewed by one or more of the following teams:

Cathode Engineering:

* Tesla is looking to hire an experienced technician with hands-on experience in lab and pilot plant facilities. This candidate will be a core member of an interdisciplinary materials development team that is focused on developing innovative materials to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. Seeking candidate who have chemical, physical and mechanical risk awareness; process and analytical data evaluation skills;

and/or experiences in materials synthesis or analytical techniques relevant for material development welcome: PSA, BET, SEM, XRD, ICP, FTIR, UV-VIS

Cathode Material Manufacturing Internship:

* The team works on novel cathode precursors manufacturing process development and closely collaborate with internal teams on precursors and cathode materials testing and evaluation. The candidate will work on precursor synthesis, raw material qualification and analytical method development in this team

Cathode Pilot Engineering Internship:

* The engineering intern role within this team will participate in the development, measurement, and production of new cathode active materials and engineering/troubleshooting of the processes/measurements by which these powders are produced. This requires working in a hands-on capacity with equipment and cathode materials. Seeking candidates who have a strong understanding of physics/chemistry/mechanics fundamentals and ability to leverage this knowledge to solve challenging powder processing challenges;

and who are mechanically capable and willing to engage with equipment to conduct experimental operations

Cathode Material Development and Characterization Intern:

* Tesla's Cathode team is developing and scaling the production of novel cathode materials to enable battery electric vehicles. This includes the development and scale-up of novel, high-energy, low-cost cathode materials and the development of first-of-a-kind processes that shorten the path from mine to battery cell. As a cathode material intern, you will develop and scale up materials at lab scale and assist with development and scale up at pilot scale, and eventually be the first on-the-ground, technical point of contact for the understanding of how to scale and sustain cathode production quality at our first manufacturing plant in Austin.

In this role you will also work closely with Tesla's teams around cathode manufacturing, material characterization, cell testing etc. to coordinate cross-functional activities that improve process control and product quality. Seeking candidate with experiences in Cathode and Lithium-Ion batteries testing

Cell Modeling Engineering Internship

* As part of the Cell Modeling team, this person will develop and maintain numerical models to predict lithium-ion cell performance. Seeking candidates with experience solving ODEs and PDEs numerically using Matlab, Python, or similar; and who can document and communicate model workflow, implementations, and results of simulation…