Connect with us

News

Tesla launches its UK Energy Plan, hints at upcoming Virtual Power Plant project

(Credit: Energy Octopus UK)

Published

on

Tesla has launched its Energy Plan for the United Kingdom. This marks one of the first big moves Tesla Energy has taken to become a viable a utility service option in the country.

IT professional and environmentalist Mark W. Tebutt (@mwt2008 on Twitter) received a very intriguing email from the EV automaker about its Tesla Energy Plan. According to the screenshot @mwt2008 shared, Tesla has partnered with Octopus Energy in the UK to administer its energy plan to customers.

Octopus Energy has a lot in common with Tesla, including its disruptive nature. The UK-based energy service provider wrote on its official website that it entered the industry to “disrupt the status quo with energy that’s good for the planet, good for your wallet, and honestly, good for your soul.”

In the UK, energy suppliers set a default price, called tariffs, for services. The Tesla Energy Plan in the UK offers a 24/7 import and export (charging and discharging) rate of 8p(pence)/kWh to Tesla vehicle owners and 11p/kWh for those who are non-Tesla vehicle owners, as per the electric car maker’s FAQ page for its Energy Plan.

Advertisement

According to Octopus Energy, the Tesla Energy Plan has the lowest import flat rate in the UK energy market as of October 2020. UK Power stated that the average tariff is 14.40p/kWh in the UK. The tariff can vary depending on the location.

The Energy Plan works with Tesla’s Powerwall, solar panels, and Solar Roof products. Although Tesla Solar Roof is currently not available for purchase in the UK. The email did not mention if the Energy Plan worked exclusively with Tesla products or if customers with solar panels from other companies could use the service as well.

Tesla appears to have designed its Energy Plan to work on two levels in the UK. First, it offers Tesla’s products, notably its Powerwall home battery, to customers. Second, it will help build Tesla’s “large” UK Virtual Power Plant through the Powerwalls.

Octopus Energy broke down the key benefits of the Tesla Energy Plan. They are listed below.

Advertisement
  • Power your home and EV with 100% clean energy
  • Reduce your electricity bills
  • Support the grid when it needs it most
  • Reduce reliance on the grid
  • Protect your home from power cuts
  • Be part of Tesla’s first UK Virtual Power Plant
  • Receive introductory offers

In May 2020, Tesla filed to become a full-blown energy provider in the UK. The Tesla Energy Plan it released in conjunction with Octopus Energy may be the first fruits of that application.

Tesla’s Energy division has been lying in the background of the company’s EV manufacturing department for some time. It has made some subtle waves in the US’ residential battery storage market over the years, and high-profile projects like the Hornsdale Power Reserve have caught headlines, but Tesla Energy has really started showing its worth this year.

Since the beginning of the year, Solar Roof V3 installations have been ramping, and the company’s flagship energy storage unit, the Megapack, has become a key component of massive projects such as the giant battery farm in Moss Landing. In its Q3 update letter, Tesla reported reaching record deployments of 759 MWh, and in the company’s earnings call, Elon Musk noted that Solar Roof will prove to be a killer product next year.

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Starlink goes mainstream with first-ever SpaceX Super Bowl advertisement

SpaceX used the Super Bowl broadcast to promote Starlink, pitching the service as fast, affordable broadband available across much of the world.

Published

on

Credit: Starlink/X

SpaceX aired its first-ever Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, marking a rare move into mass-market advertising as it seeks to broaden adoption of its Starlink satellite internet service.

Starlink Super Bowl advertisement

SpaceX used the Super Bowl broadcast to promote Starlink, pitching the service as fast, affordable broadband available across much of the world.

The advertisement highlighted Starlink’s global coverage and emphasized simplified customer onboarding, stating that users can sign up for service in minutes through the company’s website or by phone in the United States.

The campaign comes as SpaceX accelerates Starlink’s commercial expansion. The satellite internet service grew its global user base in 2025 to over 9 million subscribers and entered several dozen additional markets, as per company statements.

Advertisement

Starlink growth and momentum

Starlink has seen notable success in numerous regions across the globe. Brazil, in particular, has become one of Starlink’s largest growth regions, recently surpassing one million users, as per Ookla data. The company has also expanded beyond residential broadband into aviation connectivity and its emerging direct-to-cellular service.

Starlink has recently offered aggressive promotions in select regions, including discounted or free hardware, waived installation fees, and reduced monthly pricing. Some regions even include free Starlink Mini for select subscribers. In parallel, SpaceX has introduced AI-driven tools to streamline customer sign-ups and service selection.

The Super Bowl appearance hints at a notable shift for Starlink, which previously relied largely on organic growth and enterprise contracts. The ad suggests SpaceX is positioning Starlink as a mainstream alternative to traditional broadband providers.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla engineers deflected calls from this tech giant’s now-defunct EV project

Published

on

Image Created by Grok

Tesla engineers deflected calls from Apple on a daily basis while the tech giant was developing its now-defunct electric vehicle program, which was known as “Project Titan.”

Back in 2022 and 2023, Apple was developing an EV in a top-secret internal fashion, hoping to launch it by 2028 with a fully autonomous driving suite.

However, Apple bailed on the project in early 2024, as Project Titan abandoned the project in an email to over 2,000 employees. The company had backtracked its expectations for the vehicle on several occasions, initially hoping to launch it with no human driving controls and only with an autonomous driving suite.

Apple canceling its EV has drawn a wide array of reactions across tech

It then planned for a 2028 launch with “limited autonomous driving.” But it seemed to be a bit of a concession at that point; Apple was not prepared to take on industry giants like Tesla.

Wedbush’s Dan Ives noted in a communication to investors that, “The writing was on the wall for Apple with a much different EV landscape forming that would have made this an uphill battle. Most of these Project Titan engineers are now all focused on AI at Apple, which is the right move.”

Apple did all it could to develop a competitive EV that would attract car buyers, including attempting to poach top talent from Tesla.

In a new podcast interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, it was revealed that Apple had been calling Tesla engineers nonstop during its development of the now-defunct project. Musk said the engineers “just unplugged their phones.”

Musk said in full:

“They were carpet bombing Tesla with recruiting calls. Engineers just unplugged their phones. Their opening offer without any interview would be double the compensation at Tesla.”

Interestingly, Apple had acquired some ex-Tesla employees for its project, like Senior Director of Engineering Dr. Michael Schwekutsch, who eventually left for Archer Aviation.

Tesla took no legal action against Apple for attempting to poach its employees, as it has with other companies. It came after EV rival Rivian in mid-2020, after stating an “alarming pattern” of poaching employees was noticed.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla to a $100T market cap? Elon Musk’s response may shock you

Published

on

tesla elon musk

There are a lot of Tesla bulls out there who have astronomical expectations for the company, especially as its arm of reach has gone well past automotive and energy and entered artificial intelligence and robotics.

However, some of the most bullish Tesla investors believe the company could become worth $100 trillion, and CEO Elon Musk does not believe that number is completely out of the question, even if it sounds almost ridiculous.

To put that number into perspective, the top ten most valuable companies in the world — NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, TSMC, Meta, Saudi Aramco, Broadcom, and Tesla — are worth roughly $26 trillion.

Will Tesla join the fold? Predicting a triple merger with SpaceX and xAI

Cathie Wood of ARK Invest believes the number is reasonable considering Tesla’s long-reaching industry ambitions:

“…in the world of AI, what do you have to have to win? You have to have proprietary data, and think about all the proprietary data he has, different kinds of proprietary data. Tesla, the language of the road; Neuralink, multiomics data; nobody else has that data. X, nobody else has that data either. I could see $100 trillion. I think it’s going to happen because of convergence. I think Tesla is the leading candidate [for $100 trillion] for the reason I just said.”

Musk said late last year that all of his companies seem to be “heading toward convergence,” and it’s started to come to fruition. Tesla invested in xAI, as revealed in its Q4 Earnings Shareholder Deck, and SpaceX recently acquired xAI, marking the first step in the potential for a massive umbrella of companies under Musk’s watch.

SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise

Now that it is happening, it seems Musk is even more enthusiastic about a massive valuation that would swell to nearly four-times the value of the top ten most valuable companies in the world currently, as he said on X, the idea of a $100 trillion valuation is “not impossible.”

Tesla is not just a car company. With its many projects, including the launch of Robotaxi, the progress of the Optimus robot, and its AI ambitions, it has the potential to continue gaining value at an accelerating rate.

Musk’s comments show his confidence in Tesla’s numerous projects, especially as some begin to mature and some head toward their initial stages.

Continue Reading