Tesla reduces Solar + Powerwall pricing amid CA wildfire power outages

Joey Klender

By

Posted on October 28, 2019

With wildfires blazing through portions of California, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has knocked $1,000 off the price of Solar+Powerwall prices as of today in an effort to provide some assistance to homeowners affected by the power outages resulting from the ongoing fires.

Musk took to Twitter just hours after many residents of Los Angeles were required to evacuate their homes because of wildfires threatening the region. The Tesla CEO tweeted out numerous updates on the advantages of Tesla solar, like its ability to prevent power blackouts in the event of natural disasters. Musk also offered a $1,000 discount to customers in California who are directly affected by the ongoing wildfires.

The price reduction for its Solar+Powerwall package stands as another gesture from the electric car maker and its CEO. Musk has always maintained that Tesla’s purpose is not simply to make money. Rather, it is determined to accelerate the world’s adoption of sustainable solutions. Electric cars are one thing, but having homes switch to solar power with a battery-based backup is also a key pillar for this vision.

The value of a solar system and home battery unit is emphasized during times of power outages, such as those affecting parts of CA today. Due to the ongoing fires, particularly the Getty and Kincade Fires, portions of the state have been cut off from power. As noted by a recent CNN report, over a million residents across California currently face multiple days without power. It is these homeowners that stand as potential customers for Tesla’s Solar+Powerwall solutions.

Tesla started pushing its Energy business more this third quarter as the company hit its stride in its Model 3 production, and it showed in the company’s Q3 2019 results. Kunal Girotra, Tesla’s Senior Director, Energy Operations, described this rise in the third-quarter earnings call. “Our solar deployments rose by almost 50% over last quarter, and our energy storage deployments, which include Powerwalls and Powerpacks, grew by 15% to an all-time high of 477 megawatt hours,” he said.

These improvements came partly as a result of Tesla revamping his residential solar business, launching an affordable rental system that could cost homeowners as low as $50 a month. The company also took the wraps off its new solar solutions for businesses. These updates were accompanied by transparent pricing that gave customers clear expectations about their solar systems.

That being said, Elon Musk has admitted that Tesla does not really turn much of a profit on Solar+Powerwall installations or orders, adding that the $1,000 price reduction is significant. Musk has offered discounts in the past on Tesla’s solar products, including a nationwide price reduction after Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) announced mandatory power shutoffs in order to prevent wildfires in Northern California.

The fires in Los Angeles are very reminiscent of last year’s wildfires in the same region. The blazes in 2018 were the worst fires ever recorded in California’s history, destroying over 1.89 million acres of land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Tesla reduces Solar + Powerwall pricing amid CA wildfire power outages

<!–

View Comments

–>

Source

Tesla Solar Roof V3 shows a more cautious Elon Musk, and that’s a good thing

Simon Alvarez

By

Posted on October 28, 2019

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously stated that 2019 will be the year of the Solar Roof, the company’s flagship solar product. This prediction almost seemed like it was forgotten for some time, until now, with the electric car maker launching its Solar Roof V3 (now named Solarglass) last Friday. Solar Roof V3 appears to be yet another sign of a change in Tesla’s CEO, one which indicates that Elon Musk has become more cautious, much to the benefit of the electric car and energy company. 

The original Solar Roof tiles were unveiled in 2016 following Tesla’s acquisition of Solar City. Marketed as a more aesthetically pleasing solution for homeowners who wish to get the benefits of a photovoltaic system without committing to traditional rooftop solar panels, the Solar Roof tiles were intended by Tesla to be a revolutionary product, much like its electric vehicle line. Unfortunately, the Solar Roof saw multiple delays, and up until today, only a few installations of the rooftop system have been completed. 

So notable was the delay in the Solar Roof rollout that the company’s critics actually began claiming that the product will never be produced. Reports of a Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo that was allegedly not being used to its full potential did not help the company’s narrative. Tesla, for its part, stood firm, with Elon Musk explaining that the Solar Roof tiles are taking longer than usual to release due to the product’s long development cycle. If last Friday was any indication, it appears that Elon Musk’s statements about the Solar Roof tiles were actually true, and the company was only ensuring that the shingles were fully ready before they were ramped. 

Solar Roof V3 (or Solarglass, as Musk calls it), is the culmination of all the waiting and refinement that the company has performed on its flagship rooftop solar product. This time around, the solar tiles are bigger at 45″ long by 15″ wide, far larger than the 14″ long by 9″ wide tiles of the first generation producr. This larger size comes with several benefits, including lower cost of production and increased power density, and easier installation. The number of parts in the Solar Roof itself has been reduced due to the larger tiles as well, making the system less prone to potential faults. 

These improvements are all centered on one concept: efficiency. While the first iteration of the Solar Roof unveiled by Tesla in 2016 was all about the tiles’ appearance, V3 is all about appearance and practicality. Since they’re larger, employees at Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, NY will be able to manufacture them at a faster rate. Installers will also have a far easier time fitting the tiles into customers’ homes. These advantages have the potential to allow Tesla to ramp its Solar Roof V3 installations quickly. 

Ultimately, these improvements to the Solar Roof would not have been made possible with a brash leader at the helm. Elon Musk is known as a CEO that is bold and prone to taking risks, yet with the Solar Roof, he appears to have adopted a far more cautious approach, something that seems to be the right decision considering the potential of the product. The Solar Roof is the solar product that will set Tesla apart from competitors, and the company would be unwise to release a version of the tiles that could not be ramped easily. After all, Tesla Energy has the potential to be a huge business for the Silicon Valley-based company, as noted by Elon Musk during the Q3 2019 earnings call. 

“In the long term, I expect Tesla Energy to be of the same or roughly the same size as Tesla’s automotive sector or business. This is the most underappreciated group. I think it could be bigger, but it’s certainly of a similar magnitude to Tesla Solar. Meaning, if you take Tesla Solar plus battery stuff, Tesla Energy is, I think, the least appreciated element,” Musk said. 

Tesla Solar Roof V3 shows a more cautious Elon Musk, and that’s a good thing

<!–

View Comments

–>

Source

Tesla Model Y bashed by auto veteran: ‘It’s terminally ugly. I don’t know who’s gonna buy that’

Simon Alvarez

By

Posted on October 27, 2019

The Tesla Model Y is expected to be the company’s highest-volume vehicle yet, with Elon Musk noting during the recently-held third-quarter earnings call that he expects the crossover to outsell Model S, Model X, and Model 3 combined. Former GM vice chair Bob Lutz, on the other hand, has some doubts, and a lot of that has to do with the way the Model Y looks. 

The Model Y is created as the crossover version of the best-selling Model 3, and as such, the vehicle shares around 75% of the components of its sedan sibling. This makes the two vehicles look very similar, though the Y could be described as a taller, heftier 3. So similar were the two electric vehicles that even Tesla enthusiasts who took test rides in the Model Y during its unveiling event found it a bit challenging to tell the crossover apart from the Model 3. 

This, according to the former GM executive, is a big mistake. In an appearance at Autoline After Hours prior to the release of Tesla’s blockbuster Q3 results, Bob Lutz talked about the electric car maker, and while he acknowledged the Model 3’s success, he was dismissive of the Model Y. 

“I think we’re in a period of relative stability. The Model 3 continues to sell well. But the Model Y, I think it’s terminally ugly. I don’t know who’s gonna buy that. It’s another one of these humpback things like the Model X. It’s neither a sport utility nor a sedan, and to the extent it sells, I don’t think it’s going to break into a new segment. I think the sales will be largely substitutional to the Model 3,” he said. 

When asked about Tesla’s lead in range, Lutz remarked that the electric car maker is in the same place as everyone else making EVs when it comes to battery technology. Explaining his point, Lutz argued that the only reason Tesla’s electric cars have longer range is because the company’s vehicles have larger batteries. 

“When it comes to battery technology, Tesla is in exactly the same place as everybody else. They use lithium-ion and lithium-ion has a certain energy content per kWh and everybody else has the same one. So the only reason why Tesla had more range was because they had a bigger battery,” he remarked. 

Lutz’s comments fail to account for the specific chemistries and energy density in Tesla’s battery cells, which continues to be improved by the electric car maker. This is one of the reasons why cars like the Model X Long Range can hit 328 miles of range per charge with a 100 kWh battery pack, while the Audi e-tron 55, a vehicle with a 95 kWh battery pack, can only go 204 miles. That’s a 124-mile difference in range from a 5 kWh difference in battery pack size. 

Despite Bob Lutz’ overall dismissive stance on the Model Y and Tesla’s battery tech, the former GM executive did acknowledge the Model 3 and the Model S, which he admitted is a pretty remarkable sedan. Lutz also admitted that Elon Musk’s strategy of first attacking the top end of the market with higher-priced EVs and going from there was the right move. 

Watch the former GM’s comments about Tesla in the video below. 

[embedded content]

Tesla Model Y bashed by auto veteran: ‘It’s terminally ugly. I don’t know who’s gonna buy that’

<!–

View Comments

–>

Source