Tesla & SolarCity Prepare For World Domination (Original Reporting)

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The Powerwall 2 with 14kw of storage can now run a 4 bedroom home and refrigerator during a power outage. With a solar roof it can do so indefinitely.

 

Back in 2003 I wrote about Musk and Tesla. One member who is still here assured me that they knew EVs would never happen and it was just a pump and dump. Another tried to dazzle with electrical theory proving it would go slow and long or fast and short ranges per charge. At the time Musk stated that they would start with a super car class/Luxury class vehicle, as that could be done, and then work their way down to the EV for the masses. They never doubted they would provide 200-300 mile range, and blistering performance. Few believed it or Musk. By 2005 he was already stating they would build fast chargers and make them quick to recharge, and that people would also be able to charge them at home overnight.

 

He laid out his plan, worked his plan, executed his plan, and is about to debut the blue collar consumer class car.

 

I and most of my family and friends own our own homes and property. My FIL has 12 acres and free standing grid connected solar system, 3kw worth. As the readers here already know I was about to install 12 kw of solar but Telsa announced they were going public soon in 2010, so I waited until they did and put all my money into Tesla at $17 and then $22-22.50 three more times. I took out my principal plus $5k profit just to be able to truthfully say I made a profit. See, contrary to any beliefs otherwise, no one makes, or loses money, until they sell. I still had almost 4/5 of my shares left. Today if I sold, despite it being down $75 from its high of 2014, I still would get the profit of $180 per share give or take. You can do the math for my percent of profit over the 6 years I have held the stock I bought minus a little more than a fifth I sold in 2013 using $22 as an average and last Friday's close of $199.97. <wink>

 

He has just laid out his plans for the future and announced his Powerwall 2 for residential and consumer use, and his Powerpack2 for commercial/industrial and grid use. Like before folks will use their preconceived notions as that is human nature. I am of the opinion that Musk will deliver based on past performance and behavior. Just as I believed and posted in the thread "Are You Still In" in this forum.

 

Here I am again telling folks what is going to happen, and like before many will not care as they cannot admit they were or are wrong. Many will not realize that I am just relaying what Musk said his plans are for the next steps, and it is up to each to decide if they can believe that based in his past execution. I am just passing along the word of a man who makes things happen. Just like before with the cars.

 

It is now apparent that Telsa can replace all those noisy, limited, and toxic gasoline, diesel, propane and natural gas, generators with a solar array and a Powerwall. Only those with a house or RV have their own carbon fuel generators, as well as their own solar systems as commonplace.

 

Excerpt:

 

"Last night, on a back lot at Universal Studios, Tesla unveiled the most promising facet of its impending merger with SolarCity — solar shingles as chic and efficient as their cars. These were paired with new Powerwall home batteries that have double the energy density of Tesla’s first Powerwall product. (You can watch the full video of the presentation further down in this article if you didn’t already watch it in Steve’s article, on Tesla.com, or elsewhere.)

 

The event was primarily for Tesla owners, so it took me longer to get up the hill from the studio gate than it did to ride my Zero from Vernon at rush hour. But I did get to hitch a ride in a swanky Model X, which was a lovely way to start the Tesla world experience.

 

Riding there, I passed a Tesla Roadster and was overcome with awe at how far the company has come since the Roadster. Most mere mortals would’ve given up many times along the way. But not Elon Musk. He’s kept going, and won’t stop till he reaches his retirement community on Mars.

 

The Tesla solar roof was the biggest news, but the Powerwall 2 & Powerpack 2 are game-changers as well. Elon Musk stated that, combined with a $5,500 Powerwall 2, the solar shingles will actually be cheaper than buying conventional shingles and electricity from the grid. The shingles will be available by summer 2017. Here’s a nifty cost analysis of various batteries and grid power. It’s from 2015, so the numbers have most likely changed a bit, but it’s still useful for some perspective on cost and especially cost per kWh of storage. https://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/09/tesla-powerwall-powerblocks-per-kwh-lifetime-prices-vs-aquion-energy-eos-energy-imergy/

 

Tesla also showcased its new batteries — Powerwall 2 for homes and Powerpack 2 for industrial & utility customers. The new batteries are twice as energy dense as the old ones, thanks to their new 21–70 cells, which we wrote about a bit here.

 

While the world’s largest banks were somehow fleeced into investing into a pipeline that will only cause more problems than it could ever solve, Tesla has Powerpacks available for any utility company interested in kicking the (natural) gas habit. Southern California Edison has already ordered a 20 MW/80 MWh Powerpack substation to help ease its dependence on its crumbling gas storage reservoirs. In the press conference last night, I asked Tesla how long until all of Southern California can rely on Powerpacks instead of gas buried underground. Musk stated that once the system is up and running in Mira Loma, they will probably want to buy more Powerpacks.

 

After the Porter Ranch disaster, I contacted LADWP to find out what it was doing to kick the gas habit. Since 22% of its portfolio is natural gas, and 40% is coal, it pains me deeply to know that my EV is powered by one of the biggest environmental disasters in American history. Here is LADWP’s official response to my inquiry, from January of this year:

 

LADWP purchases natural gas from suppliers from out of state. Natural gas is conveyed into

Southern California through SoCalGas’ system and to LADWP’s in-basin generating stations.

LADWP does not have its own gas storage, and the management of SoCalGas’ system to get the

gas to us in entirely their responsibility.

LADWP has been using natural gas more efficiently than ever since repowering older generating units

at Haynes and most recently Scattergood generating stations.

LA’s goal is to be coal-free by 2025, and LADWP continues to aggressively increase the amount

of renewable energy (solar, wind and geothermal power) provided to LA residents and businesses. We

are on track to provide 33% renewable energy to customers by 2020, and 50% by 2035. However,

the most abundant renewable resources, solar and wind, are both variable. They do not

produce energy if the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining. Until more storage

technology or baseload geothermal power can be developed, natural gas provides an

essential “bridge fuel” to ensure continuous, reliable power to our customers 24/7.

 

Hopefully now that LADWP has completed a 62-mile renewable transmission corridor, it’ll consider purchasing some Powerpacks to store that clean energy as well. Tesla is ready to take LADWP’s order, and help America’s second largest city live a little better."

 

The above excerpt is lacking the videos that do not auto play but can be clicked on, as well as about twenty other hot links with sources and additional info. The article in full is here: https://cleantechnica.com/2016/10/29/tesla-solarcity-prepare-world-domination-original-reporting/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29

 

Here's the Tesla event 19 minute video of last week announcing the Powerwall and Powerpack 2, as well as the solar roofing they can install now.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sfwDyiPTdU

 

Wow!