Four weeks ago, Elon Musk tweeted that a “major new Tesla product line — not a car — will be unveiled” on April 30.
And this morning Tesla has unveiled a range of new energy products, including a new wall-mounted battery that will be sold for use in consumers’ homes.
Tesla is calling the rechargeable lithium-ion battery the “Powerwall.” As the name suggests, the unit is designed to be mounted on a wall, and connected to the local power grid.
Of course the Powerwall did not just drop out of a laboratory. As part of a pilot program with sister company SolarCity, Tesla has installed batteries at about 300 California homes equipped with solar panels. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has a relationship with SolarCity, has Tesla batteries installed at 11 California stores and Cargill Inc. plans a one-megawatt system for its animal-processing plant in Fresno.
Price tag:
Around $3,500 for 10kWh battery and $3,000 for 7kWh battery. US deliveries will begin in late summer. Tesla still needs to clarify when the Powerwall will be available in the rest of the world.
The basic idea:
Home batteries power up overnight, when energy companies typically charge less for electricity. Then, they can be turned on during the day to power a home. According to Tesla’s calculation the new battery would slash consumers’ electric bills by 25%. In addition to the Powerwall, Tesla also announced an energy storage system for businesses, and a large scale system for use by utilities.
Elon Musk:
“The issue with existing batteries is that they suck”. “They’re really horrible.”
“When coupled with solar energy, the batteries will help accelerate the move away from fossil fuels”.
“That’s the future we need to have”. “It’s something we must do, and we can do, and we will do.”
Financially:
Tesla shares have jumped 20% over the past month as investors speculated about the battery’s technical specifications and market potential. The company is scheduled to announce its first quarter earnings next week. Small fact: Elon Musk is net worth is about 13 billion dollar. We guess Musk and his team must be doing something right.