Tesla Energy competition

[Auzie]

Daimler AG takes a brilliant move to chase Tesla Motors

From June, Mercedes-Benz branded lithium-ion batteries would be sold by the German automaker in an association with utility EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG, according to the company.

Harald Kroeger, a Mercedes-Benz development executive, said in a statement that the battery technology Daimler incorporates in its cars has verified to work for millions of driven kilometers in the roughest environments of cold and heat, which makes it the best runner also for stationary use.

The batteries will come in 2.5kWh and 5.9kWh versions. MB will announce costs next month.

MB seems to be copying Tesla by venturing into energy storage, perhaps as an attempt to grab some market space early enough, especially at home.

Germany is one of the best markets for energy storage due to high solar uptake. Operating on a home turf may give MB some advantage over Tesla Energy.

I am curious about MB plans to remain competitive in this space without actively working on driving down battery costs in a similar manner that Tesla is doing. Perhaps MB plans to keep buying cells from Tesla/Panasonic and just add value by integrating cells in a plug in storage unit.

 

[schueppert]

This is great. Let's hope MB and Tesla cooperate so their batteries are compatible (supported by the same inverters etc.). In particular I would like to see MB support high voltage DC (350V DC) to help establish this as a standard. There's plenty of opportunity for both MB and Tesla if they work together to build the market.

 

[Auzie]

WA family opts for solar battery system over costly grid connection

Highlights

Cost of grid connection north east of Perth in Australia is $60,000.

Rather than paying such costly price, a farm family chose to install battery solar system for the third of that cost. Perth based company Solar Balance designed the system with Chinese battery manufacturer BYD.

Bosche, LG and Samsung have also indicated they plan to enter the market.