Tesla Energy Launches New Batteries for Homes, Businesses, and Power Plants

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Tesla is now an energy company.

Elon Musk has finally unveiled the missing piece. At Tesla’s Energy Event in California today, Musk announced a new battery that could power a single house for 1.8 billion years and even supply energy to a nuclear power plant for 2,300 years. Tesla Energy is the company’s latest initiative that aims to curb our planet’s reliance on fossil fuels.

According to Tesla, the U.S. produces over 2,000 million metric tons of CO2, burning around 225 billion gallons of gas. The end goal is to increase our dependence on renewable energy sources for power consumption while retiring the country’s dirtiest power generation sources. We will soon have a cleaner, smaller, and more resilient energy grid, the company said.

By introducing Tesla Energy, Elon Musk is transforming his automotive company into an energy company. Tesla Energy’s innovative batteries allow homes and businesses to store renewable energy. These batteries can meet any power demand and even provide backup power, which means lesser power outages. Tesla has collaborated with select companies around the world to deploy storage on the grid.

One example is the Tesla Powerwall, which is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for homes. This battery is capable of providing power through solar power generation. Tesla outfitted the Powerwall with a liquid thermal system and software to receive and execute commands. The battery mounts easily any wall, providing backup power while load shifting. The battery can also store surplus solar energy and use that energy later when the sun is not shining.

There are two basic models: a 10kWh and a 7kWh. The 10kWh Powerwall Home Battery is made for backup applications while the 7kWh battery is optimized for daily use. The former sells for $3,500 while the latter costs $3000. For utility applications, Tesla Energy has 100kWh battery blocks, which can be scaled from 500kWh to 10MWh. These battery blocks can power nuclear plants and power generation companies.