Energy
UK energy storage startup takes on Tesla Powerwall 2 in home battery market
Tesla, Inc.’s CEO Elon Musk has made his company’s mission to help the world to transition away from reliance on fossil fuels and toward the embrace of sustainable energy sources. Now a U.K. energy-storage startup called Powervault is now in competition with Tesla, Inc. to outfit homes with affordable backup battery power across the pond.
Why is solar power and storage the key to the world’s energy independence?
Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation is at the heart of a transformation that will revolutionize the world’s electricity systems, letting consumers produce power for their own needs and feed surplus energy into the grid. Solar power is becoming ubiquitous: from large-scale utilities to micro-grids; from billion-dollar corporate HQs to rural rooftops; and from urban sprawl areas to small islands and isolated communities. We see solar next to airports, along highways, in fields, powering road signs, even at local small businesses like breweries.
- Brewing company integrates Tesla Powerpack and solar with beer-making
- North Carolina creates state’s first microgrid laboratory, using Tesla Powerpacks
Energy storage is an essential link needed to make intermittent solar energy reliable. Batteries installed inside homes can store excess energy produced by panels during peak hours of operation. When combined with smart meters and digital technologies, batteries can help utilities regulate the grid by providing power reserves which can be tapped and transmitted on demand.
As prices have dropped, solar PV generation uptake by households and local communities has increased dramatically. In 2015, around 30% of solar PV capacity installed worldwide involved systems of of less than 100 kW. This is gradually changing the face of power system ownership. Two companies — U.K.’s Powervault and the U.S. Tesla — are helping consumers to make the shift to solar installations combined with battery energy storage and a chance at energy independence.
Powervault
Founded in 2012 with money from the U.K. government and private investors, Powervault has made a mission of reducing the cost of batteries in order to make them affordable to more homes. Powervault stores electricity in a home using either Lithium-ion Phosphate cells or Lead Acid batteries.
Powervault’s Lead Acid version is for customers who want a product with a low up-front cost and the prospect of upgrading to Lithium-ion technology when their Lead Acid batteries reach the end of their useful life in three to seven years. With Lithium-ion technology forecast to fall dramatically in cost over the next five years, customers can benefit from a low-cost Powervault using Lead Acid batteries now, then replace its batteries later. A Powervault lead battery that can store 3 kWh of power sells for 2,500 pounds ($3,117) a unit, or, about $1,039 for each kWh of electricity stored. That price is about 12 percent cheaper than the $1,175/kWh average price in the industry, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Photo: Powervault
Powervault’s Lithium-ion Phosphate cells can store 2kWh – 6kWh of usable (AC) energy. Powervault’s Lithium-ion version is for customers who want a product with battery technology that is long-lasting and efficient; the Lithium-ion Phosphate cells are estimated to have a lifetime of eleven to thirteen years and can cycle more than once per day.
Depending on the battery technology and storage capacity a homeowner requires, the dimensions of the Powervault unit vary. The standard G200 unit accommodates all available battery capacities and technologies; the slim-line, G200-S unit , available starting in March, 2017 will only accommodate 2kWh or 4kWh of Lithium-ion Phosphate cells.
The company anticipates prices for Powervault’s batteries, which can cover about half an average British home’s daily power consumption, will be even cheaper going forward. Powervault is planning to expand internationally in the next few years with an initial focus on Europe, according to Powervault’s Managing Director Joe Warren, who said some units have already been sold in Spain. “We’ve been very careful to design them to be universally compatible. We want them to be easy to install and use everywhere in the world.”
Tesla Powerwall 2
Powerwall 2 stories are becoming commonplace, in which a consumer captures energy during daylight off-peak hours with SolarCity photovoltaic solar panels stored in a Powerwall home battery unit. When energy rates are higher during evening hours, the consumer powers the home with energy stored captured earlier in the day.
Artists rendition of a Red Founders Series Tesla Powerwall 2.0 hand signed by Elon Musk
Powerwall uses an internal inverter to convert DC energy to the AC energy required for a home or small business. A liquid thermal control system regulates Powerwall’s internal temperature to maximize battery performance in any climate. The most affordable home battery in terms of cost per kWh, the company argues that the Powerwall economically meets the daily energy needs of most homes. With usable capacity of 13.5 kWh, the Powerwall system has a 100% depth of discharge and 7kW peak / 5kW continuous power. Floor or wall mounted, indoor or outdoor, the Powerwall has a ten year warranty and is scalable up to nine Powerwalls. Its operating temperature ranges from -4° to 122°F / -20°C to 50°C. The system is certified to meet North American and international standards.
One 14 kWh Powerwall battery costs $5,500, with installation and supporting hardware adding $1,500, or a total estimate $7,000. U.S. installations are beginning in February, 2017, according to company data.
There’s no doubt Elon Musk sees solar as the future for electricity generation, just as he views electric cars as the future of transportation. “The primary means of energy generation is going to solar,” he said in 2015 prior to the merger with SolarCity, in which the issue of utility-based versus independent energy generation still seemed futuristic. “It will at least be a plurality, and probably be a slight majority in the long term.”
The forecast for solar in the U.K. and U.S.
The London-based Powervault company is targeting sales of 50,000 units a year by 2020, up from about 1,000 this year. Powervault is entering the home storage market just as Tesla is readying its Nevada-based Gigafactory for Model 3 production. Musk expects the plant will double the global production of lithium-ion batteries next year, so that, by 2018, the Gigafactory will reach full capacity and produce more lithium ion batteries annually than were produced worldwide in 2013.
Solar PV deployment at the consumer level alongside battery storage is putting pressure on network operators and the way national electricity systems are traditionally managed and governed. This is brought about by new developments in electricity storage, electric, vehicles and smart appliances. Solar PV already accounts for about 2% of global electricity in 2016, but could reach as much as 13% by 2030. In order for this to happen, solar PV capacity additions must double in 14 years, with Tesla leading the way and companies like Powervault joining the march.
Interested in solar? Get a solar cost estimate and find out how much a solar system would cost for your home or business.
Elon Musk
Why SpaceX just made a $60 billion bet on AI coding ahead of historic IPO
SpaceX has secured an option to acquire Cursor AI for $60 billion ahead of its historic IPO.
SpaceX announced today it has struck a deal with AI coding startup Cursor, securing the option to acquire the company outright for $60 billion later this year, while committing $10 billion for joint development work in the interim. The announcement described the partnership as building “the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI,” and comes just days after Cursor was separately reported to be raising $2 billion at a valuation above $50 billion.
The move makes strategic sense given where each company currently stands. Cursor currently pays retail prices to Anthropic and OpenAI to the same companies competing directly against it with Claude Code and Codex. That means every dollar of revenue Cursor earns partially funds its own competition. With SpaceX bringing computational infrastructure to the Cursor platform, that could reduce Cursor’s dependence on OpenAI and Anthropic’s Claude AI as its providers. Access to SpaceX’s Colossus supercomputer, with compute equivalent to one million Nvidia H100 chips, gives Cursor the infrastructure to run and train its own models at a scale it could never afford independently. That one change restructures the entire unit economics of the business.
Elon Musk teases crazy outlook for xAI against its competitors
Cursor’s $2 billion in annualized revenue and enterprise reach across more than half of Fortune 500 companies gives SpaceX something its xAI subsidiary currently lacks, which is a proven, fast-growing software business with real enterprise distribution.
For Cursor, SpaceX’s $10 billion in joint development funding is transformational. Cursor raised $3.3 billion across all of 2025 to reach that $2 billion in revenue. A single $10 billion commitment from SpaceX, even as a development payment rather than an acquisition, dwarfs everything Cursor has raised in its entire existence. That capital accelerates product development, enterprise sales infrastructure, and proprietary model training simultaneously.
The timing is deliberate. SpaceX filed confidentially with the SEC on April 1, 2026, targeting a June listing at a $1.75 trillion valuation, in what would be the largest public offering in history. The company is expected to begin its roadshow the week of June 8, with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley serving as underwriters. Adding Cursor to the portfolio before that roadshow gives IPO investors a concrete enterprise software revenue story to price in, alongside rockets and satellite internet.
The deal also addresses a weakness that became visible after February’s xAI merger. Several xAI co-founders departed following that acquisition, and SpaceX had already hired two Cursor engineers, signaling where its AI talent strategy was heading. Cursor, for its part, faces a pricing disadvantage competing against Anthropic’s Claude Code.
Whether SpaceX exercises the full acquisition option before its IPO or after remains the open question. Either way, this deal reshapes what investors will be buying into when SpaceX goes public.
Elon Musk
Tesla Supercharger for Business exposes jaw-dropping ROI gap between best and worst locations
Tesla’s new Supercharger for Business calculator reveals an eye-opening all-in cost and location-based ROI projections.
Tesla has launched an online calculator for its Supercharger for Business program, giving property owners their first transparent look at what it really costs to install Superchargers on site and what kind of return they can expect.
The program itself launched in September 2025, allowing businesses to purchase and operate Supercharger hardware on their own property while Tesla handles installation, maintenance, software, and 24/7 driver support. As Teslarati reported at launch, hosts also get their logo placed on the chargers and their location integrated into Tesla’s in-car navigation, meaning drivers are actively routed there. The stalls are open to all EVs, not just Teslas.
We launched Supercharger for Business in 2025 to help companies get charging right. We found simplicity and transparency to be a problem in this industry.
We’re now sharing pricing and a financial calculator to help make informed decisions. The goal is to accelerate investments,…
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) April 8, 2026
The new online calculator, announced by Tesla on Wednesday with the note that “simplicity and transparency” have been a problem in the industry, lets any business enter a U.S. address and get a real cost and revenue model. A standard 8-stall V4 Supercharger site runs approximately $500,000 in hardware and $55,000 per post for installation, bringing an all-in price just shy of $1 million. Tesla charges a flat $0.10 per kWh fee to cover software, billing, and network operations. Businesses set their own retail price and keep the margin above that fee.
Taking a look at Tesla’s Supercharger for Business online calculator, we can see that ROI is not uniform, and the gap between a strong location and a poor one can stretch the breakeven point by several years.
The biggest driver is foot traffic and how long people stay. A busy rest station, hotel, or outlet mall brings in repeat visitors who need to charge while they’re already stopped, pushing utilization numbers higher and shortening payback time.
Tesla Supercharger for Business ROI calculator
Local electricity rates matter just as much on the cost side. Markets like California carry some of the highest commercial electricity rates in the country, which eats into the margin between what a host pays per kWh and what they charge drivers. At the same time, dense urban areas with high EV adoption tend to support higher retail charging prices, which can offset that cost if demand is strong enough. Weather also plays a role. Cold climates reduce battery efficiency and increase charging frequency, but they can also suppress utilization in winter months if drivers avoid stopping in exposed outdoor locations. Suburban and rural sites face a different problem: lower baseline EV traffic, which means a site with cheaper power and lower operating costs can still take longer to pay back simply because the stalls sit idle more often. Tesla’s calculator uses real fleet data to pre-fill utilization estimates by ZIP code, so businesses can run their specific address against these variables rather than relying on averages.
The program has seen real adoption. Wawa, already the largest host of Tesla Superchargers with over 2,100 stalls across 223 locations, opened its first fully owned and branded site in Alachua, Florida earlier this year. Francis Energy of Oklahoma and the city of Alpharetta, Georgia have also deployed branded stations through the program, as Teslarati covered in January.
Tesla now exceeds 80,000 Supercharger stalls worldwide, and the calculator makes the economic case for accelerating that number through private investment rather than company-owned sites alone.
Energy
Tesla’s newest “Folding V4 Superchargers” are key to its most aggressive expansion yet
Tesla’s folding V4 Supercharger ships 33% more per truck, cuts deployment time and cost significantly.
Tesla is rolling out a folding V4 Supercharger design, an engineering change that allows 33% more units to fit on a single delivery truck, cuts deployment time in half, and reduces overall installation cost by roughly 20%.
The folding mechanism addresses one of the least glamorous but most consequential bottlenecks in charging infrastructure: getting hardware from factory floor to job site efficiently. By collapsing the form factor for transit and unfolding into an operational configuration on arrival, the new design dramatically reduces the logistics overhead that has historically slowed Supercharger rollouts, particularly at large or remote sites where multiple units are needed simultaneously.
The timing aligns with a broader acceleration in Tesla’s network strategy. In March 2026, Tesla’s Gigafactory New York produced its final V3 Supercharger cabinet after more than seven years and 15,000 units, pivoting entirely to V4 cabinet production. The V4 cabinet itself is already a generational leap, delivering up to 500 kW per stall for passenger vehicles and up to 1.2 MW for the Tesla Semi, while supporting twice the stalls per cabinet at three times the power density of its predecessor. The folding transport innovation layers logistical efficiency on top of that technical foundation.
Tesla launches first ‘true’ East Coast V4 Supercharger: here’s what that means
Tesla Charging’s Director Max de Zegher, commenting on the V4 cabinet when it launched, captured the operational philosophy behind these changes: “Posts can peak up to 500kW for cars, but we need less than 1MW across 8 posts to deliver maximum power to cars 99% of the time.” The design philosophy has always been about maximizing real-world throughput, not just peak specs, and the folding transport upgrade extends that thinking into the supply chain itself.
Posts can peak up to 500kW for cars, but we need less than 1MW across 8 posts to deliver maximum power to cars 99% of the time.
No more DC busbar between cabinets. Power comes from a single V4 cabinet to 8 stalls. Easier to install, cheaper, more reliable.
Introducing Folding Unit Superchargers
– V4 cabinet with 500kW charging
– 8 posts per unit
– 2 units per truck
– 2 configurations: folded, unfoldedFaster. Cheaper. Better. pic.twitter.com/YyALz0U5cA
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) March 25, 2026
The network is expanding rapidly on multiple fronts. The first true 500 kW V4 Supercharger on the East Coast opened in Kissimmee, Florida in March 2026, followed closely by a new site in Nashville, Tennessee. A public Megacharger for the Tesla Semi launched in Ontario, California in early March, with 37 additional Megacharger sites targeted for completion by end of year. Meanwhile, more than 27,500 Supercharger stalls are now accessible to non-Tesla EVs from brands including Ford, GM, Rivian, Hyundai, and most recently Stellantis, whose Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat, and Maserati BEV customers gained access in March 2026.
As Tesla pushes toward a denser, faster, and more open charging network, innovations like the folding V4 Supercharger reflect the company’s growing focus on deployment velocity, not just hardware performance. Getting chargers to the ground faster, cheaper, and in greater volume per shipment may ultimately matter as much as the kilowatts they deliver.
Tesla Semi gets new product launch as mass manufacturing hits Plaid Mode
Tesla revises new Intervention Reporting system with Full Self-Driving
