What to Expect

Consider before submitting an application:   

This position is expected to start around January 2025 and continue through the entire Winter term (i.e. through May 2025) or into Summer 2025 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 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.  

As an Embedded Software Engineer Intern on the Thermal & HVAC software team at Tesla, you will play a role in accelerating the delivery and refinement of Tesla-designed thermal systems for our new and existing vehicle products. Your responsibilities will include architecting, designing, and implementing firmware for various motors, actuators, and sensors in the thermal system. Additionally, you will contribute to the development of user-facing features to enhance the accuracy and intuitiveness of the cabin HVAC system. 

The thermal management system is one of the biggest consumers of energy in an electric vehicle, making your contributions crucial in improving the efficiency of our vehicles and changing the way the world perceives electric vehicles. You will be responsible for delivering high-quality embedded code that runs on Tesla controllers and production lines. Join a team that is pushing the technology envelope in an open, collaborative, and supportive environment.  

What You’ll Do

Develop, enhance and debug new and existing behaviors for the coolant, refrigerant and cabin HVAC systems  

Drive firmware development in C in a real-time embedded environment for performance, scalability, robustness, and tight integration with the hardware  

Hands-on with hardware bring up, build and enforce component validation for delivering robust, functional code  

Collaborate across disciplines with electrical, mechanical and controls engineering teams to produce integrated software-hardware solutions 

Work with various cross-functional teams to develop requirements for new thermal system features, diagnostics, algorithms, etc 

Clearly communicate complex technical concepts to management, highlighting key issues and risks 

Implement continuous improvements and best practices within the team, and larger organization  

What You’ll Bring
Pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field of study with a graduation date between April 2025-December 2026 
Proficiency in C and real time embedded environments 
Strong software fundamentals including firmware architecture, algorithm development, data structures, code modularity, and maintainability  
Experience working with microcontroller peripherals such as timers, ADC, GPIO, PWM, SPI, UART, LIN, I2C, preferred 
Hands on experience with various motor types (brushed, brushless, steppers) and sensor types (analog, digital encoders), preferred 
Experience with reading electrical schematics and understanding circuit behavior 
Familiarity with control loops and PID controllers

PALO ALTO, California

Intern/Apprentice