News
Tesla Grabs Mind Share with Battery Storage Solutions
Most home owners aren’t looking to move off the grid, yet, charging with clean energy seems to be the biggest driving factor. (Photo Credit: Grant Gerke)
It’s been interesting to read and watch how corporate media, industry experts and financial analysts digest Tesla Energy’s battery storage solutions over the last seven days. Numerous media outlets are poking at Tesla’s business premise of a 7 and 10 kWH residential battery packs for your home, as they should be.
Here’s a very even-handed take by Dan Steigert, an energy professional, on the 7 kWh daily battery:
If you are getting this out of the battery every day for 10 years the price drops to $0.12/kWhr-cycle, again neglecting installation and inverter price. If this is truly the spec, this is an exceptional number. It is still more expensive than a genset—fossil fuel generator—because the genset can run @ $200/kW, and this is $1500/kW.
The residential battery packs are getting a LOT of attention, partly due to the lack of information at the PR event last Thursday in Hawthorne, Calif. For the last couple of months, I’ve been documenting the lack of a residential market for energy storage, think “community energy” and being able group 100 to 200 hundred solar houses and sell it back to the utility.
That residential market example doesn’t exist, yet.
Tesla Powerwall debuts at Tesla PR event in Hawthorne, CA on Aug 30, 2015.
However, utilities are fully engaged in offering commercial demand/response programs throughout the U.S to large companies and, since last Thursday, Tesla has received over 2,500 reservations for its PowerPack, the commercial and building storage solution.
Currently, Amazon is focusing on clean energy to power its data centers and will roll out a pilot program with Tesla Energy for 4.8 megawatts in Northern California. Tesla is also working with Jackson Family Wines and Target on pilot projects.
“As part of Target’s support to our communities, we’re excited to partner with Tesla on a pilot test at select Target stores to incorporate Tesla Energy Storage as part of our energy strategy,” says David Hughes, senior grp. mgr., Energy Management, Target.
-->So, yes, Tesla Energy has to deliver a real business solution with these pilot projects and, of course, margins need win out. During Tesla’s conference call, Musk said, “Once we get Gigafactory up and running, and high volume and get the economies of scale working, this is just a guess, but maybe it’s somewhere around 20 percent (battery margins). It’s like we just don’t have enough information to say exactly what that would be (at this point).”
Also from the conference call are the similarities between the car packs and Tesla Energy packs and how that could help economies-of-scale.
JB Straubel, CTO at Tesla Energy, says, “Maybe one point on the cost structure. There’s definitely a lot of commonality in the supply chain and even in the manufacturing base on how we do the modules and sales for the Tesla Energy products along with the vehicle products.”
Sounds promising, especially when Tesla is on record saying it should drive down battery costs by 30% when the Gigafactory is fully operational.
So, the company has to deliver but mind share is already there for the Silicon Valley company and its energy storage products. According to Bloomberg, Tesla Energy’s current reservations–no money down is needed–for both the home and commercial products would equate to $800 million if they could deliver immediately.
-->Ten years from now, who’s going to get credit for leading the clean energy battery storage drive? I doubt Panasonic and Sony and their much pricier battery storage solutions would roll off your tongue.
News
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
The refreshed Tesla Model 3 has won the DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year 2025 award in the Passenger Car category, beating all traditional and electric rivals.
Judges praised the all-electric sedan’s driving dynamics, value-packed EV tech, and the game-changing addition of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that went live in New Zealand this September.
Why the Model 3 clinched the crown
DRIVEN admitted they were late to the “Highland” party because the updated sedan arrived in New Zealand as a 2024 model, just before the new Model Y stole the headlines. Yet two things forced a re-evaluation this year.
First, experiencing the new Model Y reminded testers how many big upgrades originated in the Model 3, such as the smoother ride, quieter cabin, ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and stalk-less minimalist interior. Second, and far more importantly, Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
FSD changes everything for Kiwi buyers
The publication called the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version “good to drive and represents a lot of EV technology for the money,” but highlighted that FSD elevates it into another league. “Make no mistake, despite the ‘Supervised’ bit in the name that requires you to remain ready to take control, it’s autonomous and very capable in some surprisingly tricky scenarios,” the review stated.
-->At NZ$11,400, FSD is far from cheap, but Tesla also offers FSD (Supervised) on a $159 monthly subscription, making the tech accessible without the full upfront investment. That’s a game-changer, as it allows users to access the company’s most advanced system without forking over a huge amount of money.
News
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
News
Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
