Elon Musk already jump-started the electric car market with the battery that he developed for Tesla. Now he wants to power people's homes. During an earnings call on Wednesday, the Tesla CEO said that the company is planning to build batteries that could keep a house powered during a blackout or help manage solar power. Musk said the "Tesla home battery" would look something like the Model S pack, with a "beautiful cover" meant to be mounted on the wall. Production could start as early as six months from now, according to Tesla chief technical officer JB Straubel. Tesla recently picked Nevada as the site for its $5 billion "gigafactory," which the company hopes will build 500,000 lithium-ion battery packs a year when finished in 2020. The increased battery production is expected to cut the cost of building electric cars, allowing Tesla to build a sedan priced around $35,000, as well as sell batteries to other car companies looking to enter the electric vehicle market.
IN-DEPTH
- Tesla Is Facing Headwinds, Time for a Road Trip
- Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Loves His Tesla
- Tesla Motors Picks Nevada for Planned $5-billion Battery Factory Site (LA Times)
