Tesla's Rumored Batteries Tipped In Late-Stage, In-Home Testing

When announcing something new, Elon Musk sometimes just talks about plans, or sometimes just gives his plans away. With Hyperloop, Musk essentially said he was too busy to make it work, and was just giving the concept away. A few days ago, Musk said Tesla had a new product category lined up for release, and it was "not a car". Our minds immediately went to batteries for the home, and we might have been right. According to a new report, Tesla has been testing batteries in homes for sme time, now.

According to an analyst, who detailed as much in a note to investors, Tesla is testing batteries, and has "about 230 households in California" trying the batteries out. There are also roughly 100 homes outside of the Golden State with these home batteries.

Like a water heater, these batteries must be installed off the ground, and need a one-foot clearance on all sides. Unlike a water heater, the batteries allegedly don't make any noise, and are about 3.5-feet tall and 2.5-feet wide; which suggests they're square or rectangular.

These batteries are also said to have an inverter, and come in 10kWh or 15kWh variants.

The batteries are said to start at $13,000, and come with a 50% rebate from PG&E Corporation, who provide power to most of California. An owner, who wanted to remain anonymous in providing this info, also said he was able to put $1,500 down and pay $15/month for a decade.

This battery can also "be controlled" form an iPhone or web, and sends power back to the grid when full. If necessary, the battery can be powered by a generator or solar energy.

The power pack may come close to paying for itself, too. According to this nameless tipster, he "charges the battery at night at $0.11, and then at 3:00 PM sells it back to Grid at $0.43." He makes about $10/month doing this, which almost covers his monthly fee.

We'll know how true this all is later this month.

Source: Benzinga