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Tesla Grabs Mind Share with Battery Storage Solutions

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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)

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-Logo-PowerWall-Event

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.

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“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.”

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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.

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"Grant Gerke wears his Model S on his sleeve and has been writing about Tesla for the last five years on numerous media sites. He has a bias towards plug-in vehicles and also writes about manufacturing software for Automation World magazine in Chicago. Find him at Teslarati

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Elon Musk

Tesla Full Self-Driving is getting a major parking upgrade, Elon Musk says

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Full Self-Driving is going to be getting a major parking upgrade. That’s according to CEO Elon Musk, who detailed a crafty new feature that will improve parking preferences, removing a layer of human input.

Musk said that upcoming releases of Full Self-Driving will “remember your parking preferences.” It will go to the location you prefer, based on where you’ve parked in the past, instead of taking the first spot available, which is where the suite is currently.

The CEO went on to explain that destination parking is “by far” the biggest reason for intervention during FSD operation. We’d have to believe this is true; many takeovers in my Model Y, which runs the latest version of FSD as it is in the Early Access Program, are due to parking because it chooses a spot I do not want to be in.

Many times, as soon as I enter a parking lot, I take over and park manually. I prefer to park away from the entrance of wherever I am, away from cars. Too many lessons learned over the years from people with free-swinging doors.

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We’d imagine these new updates will also solve things like parking orientation. Let’s say when you arrive at work, you always park in the third spot in the third row, and you prefer to back in. It seems as if Musk is implying that your car will now do this, learning from takeovers and aiming to eliminate the need to manually park whenever possible.

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This is a major upgrade because parking is a major shortcoming of FSD currently. We’ve requested things like manual input of parking preferences, choosing to park far away, first available, or away from cars, for example.

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However, some have used the option of dropping a pin at the location you’d like to park at your destination. This has worked some of the time, but FSD will still choose to park in whatever it sees first.

Musk did not give a timetable for when the improvements would be released, but it is likely to come soon. Tesla has been releasing a new FSD version every few weeks, so we may not have to wait long to test it.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving and App Connectivity save life in medical emergency

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Credit: Tesla

In a remarkable demonstration of how advanced vehicle technology can intersect with family care and rapid response, a Tesla Model Y equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised helped save a driver’s life during a severe heart attack. The incident, which occurred on November 15, 2025, highlights the life-saving potential of Tesla’s connected ecosystem.

John Brandt, 55, was driving his new 2026 Model Y Launch Edition on Interstate 20 from Atlanta toward Birmingham early that morning. He had recently received the FSD v14.1.3 update. Around 3:50 a.m., he began experiencing severe chest pain. Barely conscious and unable to safely control the vehicle, John managed to call his son, Jack Brandt.

FSD Supervised remained engaged, keeping the car steadily on course while John reached out for help.

As an authorized driver on his father’s Tesla account, Jack quickly sprang into action from his own phone. He located Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, Georgia—a facility equipped for cardiac emergencies—via Google Maps and shared the destination directly through the Tesla app.

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The Model Y responded immediately, rerouting: it took the next exit, turned around on I-20, navigated local roads, and pulled directly up to the emergency room entrance. Jack also alerted hospital staff that a heart attack patient was en route in a Tesla.

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Doctors diagnosed John with a massive STEMI heart attack, requiring immediate intervention on three blocked arteries. They later confirmed that without the swift reroute, John likely would not have survived—whether he had pulled over to wait for an ambulance or attempted to continue driving. He received life-saving treatment and is now recovering fully.

Tesla shared the story on X, including an interview video featuring John and Jack reflecting on the event. John described the terrifying onset of symptoms, while Jack detailed the ease of remote intervention thanks to the app’s features. Only authorized users with vehicle access can change navigation destinations, adding a layer of security and family coordination.

This case underscores Tesla’s emphasis on connectivity and supervised autonomy. Features like remote navigation allow loved ones to assist in real-time emergencies, while FSD handles complex driving tasks reliably. Tesla notes that FSD Supervised requires active driver supervision and is not fully autonomous; this was a specific incident, not a general emergency protocol.

The story has resonated widely, with many praising Tesla’s technology for bridging gaps in critical moments. Jack previously shared details on social media in February 2026, and Tesla’s recent post has amplified its reach. As vehicles become smarter and more connected, such integrations could redefine personal safety on the road—turning cars into proactive partners in health crises.

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For Tesla owners, the incident serves as a powerful reminder to add trusted family members as authorized drivers and explore FSD capabilities. While no technology replaces professional medical care, this blend of AI-assisted driving and seamless app control proved invaluable. John’s survival stands as a testament to innovation that prioritizes human life.

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Elon Musk predicts Grok will start to challenge Hollywood by the end of 2026

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Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

In a bold declaration on X, xAI CEO Elon Musk announced that its model will be capable of creating full movies by the end of the year. Quoting an xAI post showcasing a stunning AI-generated trailer for Homer’s The Odyssey, Musk simply stated: “Full movies by the end of the year.”

The quoted video, created entirely with the newly released Grok Imagine Video 1.5, demonstrates the rapid strides in AI video generation. Crafted by creator David Thompson, the 2-minute-plus trailer reimagines the ancient epic in the style of a 1970s classical Hollywood blockbuster. It features 36 meticulously consistent shots that form a cohesive narrative world.

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Its realistic nature is truly mind-blowing, and it’s pretty amazing to think that it cool to think it could create an entire movie soon.

The trailer reimagines The Odyssey as a whole, and opens with a concept board outlining the vision: a retelling of the story using 35mm film aesthetics, classical framing, and other elements.

There are a handful of things that truly outline Grok’s capabilities:

  • Scale and Physics: A bloodied Spartan helmet rests on a sandy battlefield amid smoke, marching armies, and flocks of birds. Horses gallop, chariots charge, and warriors clash with believable weight and motion.
  • Emotional Depth and Dialogue: Close-ups capture intense expressions, as characters deliver lines like a warrior’s grief-stricken speech on a rocking ship.
  • Cinematic Workflow: It’s hard to believe AI created this trailer, as editing and suspense are clearly detailed in this trailer

Now, why is this a big deal? AI has been a real threat to the way movies have been made over the past several decades. It’s no secret that the various AI platforms out there are becoming more capable, but Musk has said that he believes things would be “watchable” by the end of this year, and by the end of 2027, Grok would be able to create “really good” movies.

There are several issues that remain, most notably the ability to remain cohesive throughout the length of a film, energy requirements, copyright questions for training data, and artistic intent. Hollywood has created some of the greatest cinematic masterpieces over the past 100 years, but 2026 could be the year AI not only assists but also independently authors cinema.

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