Elon Musk Claims New 2170 Battery Is “Highest Energy Density Cell in the World… That Is Also the Cheapest”
November 2nd, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.
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Update: No, I Can’t Sell You a Tesla Powerwall 2 in NZ
While I do sell solar power systems, including battery systems for on and off grid applications, I don’t have access to Tesla equipment.
In NZ, Tesla was dealing exclusively through Vector, but Tesla is supposedly going to start offering their products directly to customers here in 2017.
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My initial reaction to the Powerwall 2 was that it, “Authoritatively blows away all other residential energy storage options.”
In fact, Tesla’s retail pricing is cheaper than the competition’s manufacturing costs:
According to data compiled by BNEF, Tesla is selling its lithium-ion batteries at retail prices that are cheaper than the average manufacturing cost at most companies, setting a pace for the industry that is beating some of the most optimistic of price projections.
“We certainly expect it will move the market prices downwards as we saw last year with the first Powerwall’,” said Yayoi Sekine, a BNEF analyst who covers battery technology.
How is Tesla doing this?
While I’m not 100% sure, it looks like the new Tesla/Panasonic 2170 cell is going to be in play with the Powerwall 2.
It would be interesting to get confirmation on this. If the 2170 is going to be in the Powerwall 2, it would probably mean that capacity increases in future Powerwall iterations would be far less breathtaking than the doubling that occurred between the first and second versions of the device.
When the first Powerwall was announced back in April 2015, I suggested waiting between two and three years before pulling the trigger. I’d roughly stick with that timeframe. Wait for the early adopters to see how the 2170 cells perform in the real world.
Powerwall 3 will probably be when Tesla will get my money, assuming no other disruptive technology (SolidEnergy Systems, for example) hits the market before then.
Via: Electrek:
Despite likely being Tesla’s most important fundamental product developed so far, we know very little about the new 2170 battery cell to be manufactured at the Gigafactory in Nevada. Tesla and its manufacturing partner, Panasonic, are keeping a lid on the details.
Last night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a bold claim [I know, shocker] about the new cell that will be the foundation for much of Tesla’s product line over much of the next decade. During a conference call with analysts yesterday, he said that the battery cell is the “best and cheapest in the world”.
Musk made the comment when discussing Tesla’s growing partnership with Panasonic. He talked about both the battery cell at what he is now referring to as the “battery Gigafactory” and the solar cell to be manufactured at SolarCity’s Buffalo plant, which could technically also be called a “Gigafactory” since it has a planned output of 1 gigawatt/year.
“Everything is going very well at the battery Gigafactory and we believe quite strongly that SolarCity’s technology on the Silevo front added to Panasonic ‘s cell technology will make it the most efficient and ultimately the cheapest solar cell in the world – just as it is with the battery cell. We have the best cell in the world that is also the cheapest cell.“
Note the present tense when discussing the battery cell. Battery cell production is expected to start any day now at the Gigafactory in order to support the new Tesla Energy products announced last week.
