AUTOS:Following Tesla, Daimler enters the at-home battery space Published: Thursday, June 11, 2015
Last summer, Tesla Motors Inc., in a move meant to stimulate improvements in electric vehicle technology and an expansion of the sector, made its patents free to outsiders. Since then, Toyota Motor Corp., Hyundai Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co. have opened up alternative fuel patents, too, and Audi AG announced plans in February to buy patents from Ballard Power Systems, a fuel cell producer. Two days ago, Daimler AG, the corporate parent of Mercedes-Benz and Smart, unveiled a product that again has Tesla looking like an automotive tastemaker -- a residential and commercial electric battery. Customers can now order Mercedes-Benz's "private energy storage plants," knee-high silver towers each with 2.5 kilowatt-hours in electric storage capacity. The company will present the batteries at the Intersolar trade show in Munich today and Friday, Daimler said in a statement <http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921-657589-1-1820346-1-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0...@aj.a1.s177018-0-0-0-0.html?TS=1433965032404> . Deliveries are set to begin in September, and Daimler has not revealed a price or name for the electric units. Daimler said Tuesday that owners can combine up to eight batteries, which will be available for "companies and private households," into a 20-kWh system. In May, Tesla announced a similar electric battery system, the Powerwall, a sleek lithium-ion block that buyers can mount on their walls, as well as the Powerpack, 100-kWh batteries for utilities (*ClimateWire* <http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060017795/>, May 1). Owners will be able to stack as many as nine Powerwalls. The Powerwall comes in 7- and 10-kWh versions, for $3,000 and $3,500, respectively, which doesn't include installation costs. "I think it's fascinating to see this development," Karl Brauer, a senior analyst with Kelley Blue Book, said in a call about the Daimler battery. As photovoltaic systems drop in price, become easier to install and maintain, and get more energy efficient, car and battery companies are going to scramble into the power storage business, he said. In October, Daimler sold the last of its 4 percent stake in Tesla. At the time, the company said it would continue to purchase electric batteries from Tesla for its 87-mile-range B-Class plug-in electric car. Mercedes offers its own at-home charging stations. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk told shareholders this week the company will double the "power output" of the Powerwall (*ClimateWire* <http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060019963>, June 10). "Batteries are going to be huge," Brauer said. "I think you're going to keep seeing this come up," he said, adding that if Musk, through Tesla or otherwise, can profitably produce batteries, "that could dwarf anything he could come up with related to cars." _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
