Two weeks ago, electric car company Tesla announced it will debut a new line of storage batteries for homes and businesses, sparking widespread enthusiasm for an energy revolution. Consumers, it seems, are on board. In an earnings call last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that more than 38,000 of the home-focused Powerwall units had been reserved in the first week after the announcement—that means they're sold out until mid-2016. As a refresher, the Powerwall is a six-inch thick shield-like pack that measures three feet by four feet in size and stores electricity generated from solar or other renewable sources for use at night or as a backup supply.
The batteries won't be ready to ship till later this summer, so it remains to be seen if all the people who reserved one online will actually pony up the money, which will be $3,000 for a 7 kWh version or $3,500 for 10 kWh. But if they do, Tesla could be raking in about $800 million in revenue, according to calculations from Bloomberg. Accordingly, the company will probably be ramping up factory construction to meet demand. Tesla is already building a 5-million-square-foot factory in Nevada, one that was supposed to devote two-thirds of its capacity to batteries for electric cars. In the call, Musk said they should "try to make the factory bigger," as he claims the production of the new storage batteries alone could put the facility at full capacity.
· Tesla's Powerwall home battery is already sold out through 2016 [Inhabitat]
· At Last, Tesla Unveils its $3K Batteries for Powering the Home [Curbed]
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