What to Expect

Consider before submitting an application: 

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

Multiple Locations Possible: Palo Alto, CA; Austin, TX

You will design, test, and prototype mechanical components and systems for current and future Tesla vehicle and product programs. Your scope of work will be mechanical, however interdisciplinary in nature and will challenge you to come up with creative solutions to affect rigorous quality and cost-down targets. Additionally, you will work collaboratively with cross-functional partners and external vendors and suppliers.

What You’ll Do

Your application for the Vehicle Hardware Engineering – Mechanical Design Engineering Internships will be considered across all opportunities for the teams listed below: 

The Autopilot and Electronics Product Design team works on mechanical design and integration of all electronics modules. The areas an intern could work on can be among Controllers, Car Computer, Camera, Sensors, Radar, Display, Audio, Antenna and Accessories. The camera team within the Autopilot Product Design Team is responsible for mechanical, electrical and optical integration of our ADAS cameras. Their activities span anywhere from mechanical design and validation of new camera modules to in-depth image quality analysis for the optimal neural network detection.
The Low Voltage Wire Harness team designs all the wiring connecting every device together both mechanically and electrically in the vehicle. The Mechanical Engineers on this team use 3D CAD (Catia) to design and package wiring in the vehicle and then transfer their designs to 2D drawing for manufacturing. These Engineers understand a Tesla vehicle from end to end, as they frequently work with other engineering teams in order to optimize the design of the vehicle.
The Autopilot Hardware team develops, tests, and manufactures industry leading products. A significant division of that team is Electronic Packaging, is a cross-functional team that evaluates new electronic packaging products in development. This team develops and validates the assembly processes with the use of detailed CAD designs. They are responsible for running simulations to validate design, brainstorm ideas, and performing tests in the lab to characterize package mechanical architecture.
What You’ll Bring
Currently pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Design, Mechatronics, or a related field 
Develop designs in CAD for both detailed parts and master model assemblies 
Perform tolerance analysis, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and other simulations and analyses before releasing designs for production 
Create 2D drawings appropriate for high-volume production and inspection methods 
Conduct Design for Manufacturing (DFM) reviews with suppliers and support tooling bring up 
Run validation tests and perform data analysis 
Provide factory engineering support to help identify and resolve issues 
Hands-on prototyping, testing & troubleshooting

PALO ALTO, California

Intern/Apprentice