You don’t have to have had your iPhone die at an inopportune time to conclude that current generation batteries kind of suck.
Unlike most of us, however, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has the resources to do something about it.
In a press conference late on Thursday, Musk unveiled Tesla Energy: a line of new 7-10 kwh lithium-ion batteries aimed at homes, companies and utilities.
Priced between $3,000-$3,500 for installers, Musk announced the goal of his new endeavour as to “fundamentally change the way the world uses energy on an extreme scale.”
The batteries will work by storing solar energy, and can serve as back-up systems for use during blackouts, while also letting people live off the grid.
“Tesla Energy is a critical step in this mission to enable zero emission power generation,” the company noted.
Musk says the batteries will ship later this year, and will be “materially profitable” during 2016. The plan is for them to initially be manufactured at the company’s car factory in California, with production later moved to a proposed “gigafactory” in Nevada.
According to car industry analyst Karl Brauer, “A cost effective home energy storage system it could prove far more valuable, and profitable, than anything the company is doing with automobiles.”
Source: Reuters
