Mercedes to challenge Tesla in home power storage batteries

The last major announcement from Tesla was last month when it unveiled its Powerwall batteries for home energy storage. The idea is that the battery can store power from the electrical grid when power is cheaper and then feed that juice back into the home in an outage or when rates are at their highest. Mercedes isn't going to allow Tesla to get all the home battery market and has thrown its hat into the ring.

Mercedes-Benz has announced that it will enter into the energy storage business and says that it has been testing battery packs that can power houses. Mercedes says that a commercial launch is coming in September.

Mercedes says that it is testing battery packs aimed at light industrial, commercial, and private applications. The individual battery packs can be combined to reach the amount of power required for a given installation. One thing Tesla has going for it is a massive battery Gigafactory that can produce large volumes of batteries.

That will help reduce the price of the battery packs and is a feature Mercedes lacks. It's unclear at this point where Daimler, the Mercedes-Benz parent company, will supply its energy storage operation.

SOURCE: Greencarreports