Former Tesla executive Drew Baglino has quietly founded a heat pump startup, TechCrunch has learned.
This is the second company founded by Baglino in the two years since he left Tesla. Sources confirmed the existence of the startup, called Sadi Thermal Machines, and TechCrunch has reviewed company filings in Delaware and California.
Sadi was formed in June 2025 and shares its Scotts Valley, California, headquarters with Heron Power, a startup also founded by Baglino, that sells solid-state transformers, according to company filings.
The name of the company is an apparent reference to Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, a pioneering French physicist whose work formed the foundation of modern thermodynamics, including the internal combustion engine and the heat pump. Little is known about Sadi Thermal Machines, however, it appears to employ several Tesla alumni, according to a review of LinkedIn and a source familiar with the startup.
TechCrunch was unable to reach Baglino or the PR firm that represents Heron Power. This article will be updated if they respond.
Before founding Heron Power and Sadi Thermal Machines, Baglino spent nearly two decades at Tesla, where he worked on everything from the original Roadster to the Powerwall and Powerpack energy storage systems. When Baglino left Tesla in April 2024, he had risen to senior vice president, overseeing the development of the company’s core energy technologies, including electric motors, batteries, and power electronics.
Along the way, Baglino worked on Tesla’s heat pumps. He’s cited as an inventor on a patent for a thermal management system that operates two coolant loops, one to cool the battery and another to cool drivetrain components.
To manage the two loops, Baglino and his teammates developed three-way and four-way valves that give an EV’s thermal management system more sophisticated control over the temperature of various components. Such a system allows Tesla to harvest heat from the traction motor, for example, and use it to pre-heat the battery to ensure optimal performance when fast charging in cold weather.
The patent lays out some of the design principles that form the basis of Tesla’s “octovalve” system that first appeared in the Model Y. The heat pump in that vehicle manages the temperature of the cabin, batteries, and motors, all in a package that’s about the size of a suitcase.
When it debuted, Tesla’s octovalve system was more advanced than that of its competitors, and for at least a brief period, the company considered developing a heat pump for residential and commercial settings. Tesla executives, including Baglino and CEO Elon Musk, mused on such a system during an earnings call in 2022. They discussed a heat pump that would handle both HVAC and water heating.
“From a mission perspective, it’s very aligned,” Baglino said. “We have learned a lot about how to make capable and reliable heat pumps that work in all environmental conditions and are excited about the idea of working on that problem one day. Let me put it that way, it’s definitely aligned with our mission to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy.”
Making a heat pump for the home, he added, would be easier. “Way harder in a vehicle,” he said. “It’s so constrained on mass and volume and energy.”
But Musk then added one of his famous qualifiers. “It is a thing we will do, but we’re not committing to a time frame at this point,” he said. Tesla has yet to release a residential HVAC or water heating system.
“People should do it anyway,” Baglino said on the call. With Sadi Thermal Machines, he appears poised to make good on that statement.
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