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Tesla's master plan was realized in 2016
Tesla started in 2006 as a niche electric sports car manufacturer. Its 2008 Roadster had an insane range of 244 miles and an equally bonkers price of more than $100,000. It was the first step in CEO Elon Musk's 2006 master plan to eventually bring a high-range, reasonably priced EV to the masses. Ten years later, that strategy is finally about to pay off.
Six places where renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuels
By Cat DiStasio In the race to reduce the world's reliance on fossil fuels, cost is a huge factor. It's taken years, but advances in technology and increases in both efficiency and output have helped bring down the expense of renewable energy, which has in turn increased demand. Globally, fossil fuels are still cheaper than these alternative sources, but there are a few places around the world where clean energy is winning, dollar for dollar. Sometimes, too, there's so much of it that the market price drops to zero. With the cost of renewable energy getting lower by the year, if not the month, environmental advocates are hopeful that energy sources like solar and wind power can eventually edge out fossil fuels entirely. Let's take a look at some of the locales where renewable energy is proving that a clean world doesn't have to be more expensive.
Tesla unveils its solar roof and Powerwall 2
At Universal Studios in Los Angeles tonight, Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed off the company's solar roof-top panels, a new $5,500 Powerwall 2 high-capacity residential battery pack, and the Powerpack 2 for businesses.
Tesla's self-driving future, and more in the week that was
Tesla is making several big announcements this month, and Elon Musk just delivered the first: From now on, all new Tesla cars will be self-driving. The electric automaker also teamed up with Panasonic to build solar panels for its Powerwall home battery, which it's set to update next week. Hyperloop One is forging ahead on its futuristic transportation system by raising $50 million and hiring Uber's former CFO as an advisor. It looks like Apple has scrapped plans to build a self-driving car, and BMW showcased plans for a next-gen smart motorcycle that will never crash or tip over.
Elon Musk to show SolarCity rooftop panels October 28th
We knew that Elon Musk was working on a roof made of solar panels, and now we know when we'll see them: October 28th, according to a tweet from the real life Tony Stark. Assuming San Francisco's trademark fog doesn't make a surprise appearance too, that is. He says that the SolarCity demo will take place in the Bay area and that we'll also see how the tech integrates with his other projects, the Powerwall 2.0 in-home battery and a Tesla charging system. I'm sensing a theme here...
Six Tesla inventions that aren't electric cars
By Cat DiStasio Tesla is well known for its electric cars, but you might be surprised to learn about all the other stuff the company makes. At some point in time, each of the amazing things Tesla is doing now was simply another one of CEO Elon Musk's crazy ideas. Now the company is working on batteries that can power your home, the world's largest building and a global network of thousands of zero-cost electric car chargers. Read on to learn about six incredible Tesla projects -- aside from electric vehicles, that is.
Tesla's plan for world domination, and more in the week that was
Tesla is known for producing some of the world's best electric cars, but founder Elon Musk has even bigger plans for the company: world domination. Musk's new masterplan will grow the company to produce trucks and buses while using battery technology and solar infrastructure to transition the world away from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the world's first "Tesla Town" is coming to Australia, and every home in it will feature solar panels and a powerwall. Driverless cars are almost here: This week Mercedes-Benz unveiled the fully autonomous bus of the future, while a GM exec confirmed plans to launch a self-driving Chevy Bolt EV with Lyft. And we spotted a crazy truck that's able to lay its own road across treacherous terrain in just six minutes.
Elon Musk's companies team up: Tesla offers to buy SolarCity
Tesla Motors and SolarCity have always had a close link (Elon Musk is the chairman of both companies, and SolarCity was founded by two of his cousins -- the Wall Street Journal breaks down the crossover here) but now they may come under one roof. They already pair up on charging stations and power for off-grid homes, but Tesla is offering to acquire the energy company, saying it wants to provide its customers with access to the "most sustainable energy source available: the sun." Soon, you might be able to shop for solar panels, home batteries and an electric car all in one place.
Tesla hosts a grand opening for its Gigafactory on July 29th
Tesla's sprawling Gigafactory has yet to kick into full swing, but that isn't stopping the electric car maker from giving its plant an official debut. It's inviting its biggest fans (including those who referred buyers) to a grand opening for the Gigafactory on July 29th, even though the Nevada facility is still well away from being finished. There's no mention of what's on the itinerary, although it's reasonable to suspect that this could be the first truly revealing, officially sanctioned peek inside the factory. Motor Trend got a tour in April, but mainly showed the outside.
Nissan's xStorage is its take on Tesla's Powerwall battery
Nissan's grand designs for zero-emission cities of the future may be some way off, but you gotta start somewhere. And that somewhere starts with "xStorage," the automaker's home energy hoarding system announced today. Like Tesla's Powerwall and Mercedes' residential battery, the idea is to save you money in the long run by charging the thing up when off-peak electricity rates are in effect. You can then use the cache to power your home when energy is more expensive -- switching between sources by way of smartphone app -- or sell it back to the grid during these times of higher demand. And if you can juice the xStorage unit up using a renewable source like solar, then all the greener.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Toyota's new Prius, and more!
Tesla is set to unveil its most affordable electric car ever next weekend, but Chevrolet stole a bit of its thunder by rolling out the first pre-production Bolt EV. Meanwhile, Toyota debuted the Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid with a record-breaking 120 MPGe rating. Hybrid Air Vehicles launched the world's largest airship, which can fly for three weeks straight without a crew. And frequent fliers will be relieved to learn that Airbus has developed a new plane designed to eliminate jet lag.
Tesla drops its largest consumer Powerwall model
If you're thinking about buying Tesla's Powerwall home energy storage battery, you're down to one option. The company tells Greentech Media that it will discontinue the larger $3,500 10kWh model due to lack of demand. "We have decided to focus entirely on building and deploying the 7kWh Daily Powerwall at this time," a spokeperson says. While the larger model was able to store more energy, it's rated for just 500 cycles, while the smaller $3,000 model is for daily use and has a 10-year guarantee.
Tesla is launching new Powerwall home batteries in 2016
Tesla's Powerwall was a big success from the moment that Elon Musk launched it last year. In fact, the device is sold out until mid-2016, and may have already hit $1 billion in sales. It turns out there was a lot of pent-up demand -- if you have solar panels, the device's giant battery lets you run your house after dark, and if you don't, it provides a reliable, long-lasting backup. Even though the first-gen Powerwall only started shipping a few months ago, Musk admitted at a private function (in the video below) that "we are coming up with the version two of the Powerwall probably around July or August of this year."
Study: A Tesla Powerwall pays for itself after nearly 40 years (Update)
The Tesla Powerwall promises to power your home in a more efficient, green way than traditional energy options, all for a manageable cost. The Institute for Energy Research looked into the numbers and found that it would take 38 years for the Powerwall to pay for itself if your home isn't already hooked up with the proper solar-power connections. If your house does have the necessary solar-cell components, it'll take about 31 years for Tesla's Powerwall to break even, IER says.
Want Tesla's home battery soon? Go to Vermont
Tesla's upcoming Powerwall battery might be sold out through mid-2016, but you might get one as soon as January... if you live in the right state, that is. Vermont's Green Mountain Power will offer the home energy pack to residents who want to save the environment (and lighten the load on the electrical grid) by generating and storing their own electricity. If you share the battery with GMP, you can either get a $31.76 credit on your bill (if you buy the Powerwall for $6,500 outright) or pay $37.50 per month with no money down. You can also buy the Powerwall without sharing it, if you'd rather keep all that juice to yourself.
Tesla batteries will help power California office buildings
Tesla is about to prove that its energy storage batteries aren't just meant for saving money (and possibly, the environment) at home. The Irvine Company plans to outfit office buildings across California with Tesla battery farms that, in an initial phase, will both reduce electricity demand at peak hours and give Southern California Edison up to 10 megawatts of reserve power. That's enough to light up 10,000 homes, folks. Up to 24 buildings in Irvine will get the upgrade in this first wave, and there are hints of more in the long run.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: hoverboards and a 3D-printed car
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. A working hoverboard has been the elusive dream of Back to the Future fans and transportation nerds for decades. Now, Lexus claims that it has built a prototype. The company's SLIDE hoverboard uses magnetic levitation technology, similar to high-speed bullet trains, and it is cooled by liquid nitrogen. In other transportation news, the US Department of Defense is working with Malloy Aeronautics to develop a hoverbike for the Army. Getting stuck behind a big truck isn't just annoying -- it can be very dangerous. So tech giant Samsung has designed "see-through" trucks with rear-mounted video panels that display the road ahead.
Tesla won't build more battery swap stations
If you've ever taken your Tesla to a battery swap station then, according to Elon Musk, you're in a minority. At the company's shareholders meeting, the CEO revealed that the uptake on the service has been miniscule. Musk said that, by this point, every Model S owner in California had been invited to book an appointment, but only a handful took them up on the offer. As such, it's highly unlikely that the company will persist with the plans, instead focusing its time, money and resources on building out its popular supercharger network.
Mercedes-Benz takes on Tesla with a home battery of its own
Guess what, Tesla: you're not the only car maker getting into the home battery game. Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a personal energy cell that, like Tesla's Powerwall, uses giant batteries to store surplus power from your home's solar panels and keep you off the conventional energy grid. The German firm is taking a more modular approach than its American counterpart, though. Each pack only holds 2.5kWh of electricity, but you can combine up to eight of them to hold 20kWh, or twice as much as a Powerwall. That potentially suits it to certain businesses, not just your own abode. Whatever you think of Mercedes' pack, it may be your best hope of getting some clean energy storage in the near future. With Tesla's unit already sold out through mid-2016, you may have little choice but to register for the Mercedes equivalent and wait until it ships in September.
Tesla's Powerwall is already sold out through middle of 2016
On Tesla's quarterly earnings call, CEO Elon Musk announced "crazy off the hook" demand for its just-announced Powerwall battery product. He said over 38,000 reservations have been received, which should take up the expected production through mid-2016, and demand is high enough to account for all of the Gigafactory's production if they devoted it just to stationary batteries. That includes some 2,500 companies that are interested in the commercial-ready Powerpack (with orders averaging around 10 units each), and Musk said he estimates that commercial interest in Tesla Energy will account for 5-10 more megawatt hours than residential. To clear up one question about the Powerwall, he mentioned that while it doesn't have a DC-to-AC inverter included, it does have a DC-to-DC unit built in. Update: It wasn't mentioned on the call, but Tesla also confirmed its first acquisition today, snatching up Michigan-based part manufacturer Riviera Tool.
