Luxury electric car maker, Tesla Motors, on Thursday, unveiled Tesla Energy, a collection of rechargeable batteries that can be used to power up homes, businesses and utilities.
The batteries were launched at a Tesla facility in California by the company’s founder, Elon Musk, who heralded the technology as “a fundamental transformation [in] how energy is delivered across the earth”.
The Wall-mounted lithium-ion battery dubbed ‘Powerwall’ is designed to capture and store up to 10kWh of energy from wind or solar panel. The company claims people can save big on their electricity bills by using these batteries to covert solar energy into power for their homes. The reserves can be drawn on when sunlight is low, during grid outages, or at peak demand times, when electricity costs are highest.
“The battery can provide financial savings to its owner by charging during low rate periods when demand for electricity is lower and discharging during more expensive rate periods when electricity demand is higher,” Tesla said in a statement.
The Powerwall comes in two versions- a 7kWh unit which will cost $3,000 (£1,954) and a 10kWh unit costing $3,500 (£2,275). It can be mounted on either an outside or an inside wall. Tesla’s batteries will be available in models designed for business needs, too.
The batteries will initially be manufactured at the electric car company’s factory in California, but will move production to its planned “gigafactory” in Nevada when it opens in 2017.
The Powerwall is currently available to pre-order in the United States with the UK following soon.
