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Tesla promises cars that connect to the grid, even if Elon Musk doesn’t really want them to
Sep 24, 2020
Tesla plans for its future electric vehicles to be able to both suck up power and spit it back out into the grid. Tesla didn’t specify when this capability would be available when CEO Elon Musk made the announcement during Tesla’s much-anticipated Battery Day event in Palo Alto, California.
But instead of hyping up this development, Musk downplayed how useful it would be for the company’s vehicles to be able to connect to the grid. “Vehicle-to-grid sounds good, but I think actually has a much lower utility than people think,” Musk said. He ostensibly wants consumers to continue buying Tesla’s Powerwall batteries for their homes, rather than using its EVs as batteries on wheels. “I think it’s actually going to be better for people’s freedom of action to have a Powerwall and a car,” said Musk. A lack of infrastructure and customer buy-in for cars that can offload unused energy to the grid could also be giving Tesla pause.
Despite Musk’s reservations, there’s a lot of potential for Tesla’s electric vehicles to do more than drive. A fully charged Tesla Model S Long Range Plus might be able to drive 400 miles on a single charge of its 100 kWh battery pack, but most commuters aren’t driving nearly that far in a day. All of that leftover energy could be better used keeping the lights on in the driver’s home during a sudden blackout — an event that isn’t unusual in California during wildfire season. If Tesla owners can discharge their batteries to the grid whenever there’s peak demand, they might even be able to prevent power outages and make some money in the process.
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