Why Tesla’s new battery is kind of a big deal

Electric cars may not be great for gas companies, but it feels like a net gain for utilities: after all, if you connect a Tesla in the garage every night which is a bit of juice, you can charge tear. Tesla’s goal, however, is not only to make the cars less hostile environment, but to do all that way too. And it could be a big problem for existing power plants.

Most utilities are not stuck to what Tesla, but they should probably be scared, reports Bloomberg.

The electric car company innovates with a battery “gigafactory” in Nevada. The plant itself is designed to be essentially zero emissions and be as environmentally friendly as possible. It will not draw power from the grid, instead of generating its own wind and solar power on site – making the Nevada desert a great location.

The plant not only made use of batteries that equip current and future lines of fully electric cars Tesla, but also for the “storage market.” This line launches storage quickly and then ran over most press releases and media, but Bloomberg said that, in fact, is big business.

These batteries can be combined with solar panels in the house, they are also getting cheaper every year. A homeowner who installs solar panels (also conveniently made by a company Elon Musk) and can store excess energy for later use in a rainy week, using a Tesla battery, even sudden need to be connected to the same LAN for backup.

One analyst told Bloomberg that the storage battery is “the Holy Grail of renewable energy” because “the power is intermittent. Find a store means it’s very powerful.”

Another consultant describes the potential of Bloomberg as a “mortal threat” they say, “It [the battery pack and solar panel] is an unregulated product, can be bought at Home Depot leaves the old business model no room for hide. ”

Of course, just because people can go to the installation of new energy systems at home does not mean necessarily going to do it … but it certainly could.

About 40% of all plug-in electric cars sold in the United States go to Californians, Bloomberg said. And California, nearly half of all the 100,000 people who have electric cars can now have solar energy at home, or plan to install.

California has more than 38 million people, so the 50,000 owners who want to use solar energy are not exactly an existential threat for now. And Tesla Factory will not be online and running in the coming years.

But the future can come quickly. Currently, a $ 70- $ 100k Tesla are too expensive for most people. But with a model release $ 30,000 in a few years, electric cars will be more accessible to millions of families. And economies of scale are a real thing: the most widely adopted technology is more than a company can manufacture efficiently, and cheaper and more widespread, can continue to be.

Analysts believe that the industry is significantly underestimated how Tesla has arrived, Bloomberg writes. Cited Morgan Stanley analysts, who said “There is not enough awareness of the magnitude of the reduction in the costs of energy storage that Tesla has already reached or scope of the additional reduction costs that Tesla would be able to achieve once the company has built its gigafactory. ”

Ultimately, Bloomberg concluded, the landscape is changing. Until now, the utilities can do whatever they want because most consumers are not exactly a way to make your own electricity at home. But soon many of us could. At that time, public services will have to change in some way … if you want.