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Tesla Powerwalls to help expand Virtual Power Plant in Colorado
Colorado’s Virtual Power Plant program is about to get even bigger, with the help of Tesla’s Powerwalls.
Tesla’s Powerwalls are set to help expand a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program in Colorado, as an announcement this week notes that the company will be partnering with two local energy providers.
In a press release on Thursday, utility provider Xcel Energy and resource management company Itron announced a partnership with Tesla to help expand the existing VPP in Colorado, dubbed the Renewable Battery Connect program. Itron will integrate its IntelliFLEX platform with Tesla’s Powerwall management system, and the partners plan to increase the number of batteries that can be used during times of peak demand, as managed by Xcel.
The IntelliFLEX Aggregator Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) is designed to let energy providers localize the management of distributed batteries, utilizing a combination of residential battery storage, solar energy, electric vehicle (EV) chargers and other management systems to help balance grid energy more efficiently.
“Our Renewable Battery Connect program creates a new VPP in Colorado and we’re proud to work with Itron and Tesla, who have proven to be trusted industry partners and align with our goals to strengthen the energy grid while maintaining reliability and advancing renewable energy,” said Emmett Romine, Xcel’s VP of Customer Energy and Transportation Solutions. “This collaboration will deliver renewable, solar energy when our customers need it most.”
Truly one of the most underrated benefits of having a Tesla Powerwall.🏡🔋
Because fluctuating electricity prices suck.pic.twitter.com/GwIvOB3F1y
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— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 27, 2025
READ MORE ON TESLA POWERWALLS: Tesla partners up to expand Virtual Power Plant program in Texas
Itron also says the IntelliFLEX system currently helps facilitate around three million distributed energy resource devices for 30 different utilities across the U.S. The company also says the tool will give Xcel more power to manage customers’ residential batteries to help stabilize local grids.
“Integrating our IntelliFLEX solution with Tesla Powerwall demonstrates a shared vision with a leading technology partner who is at the forefront of creating electrification solutions,” said Don Reeves, SVP of Outcomes at Itron. “Through this collaboration, we are excited to bring new capabilities to Xcel Energy as they embark on its energy transition journey.”
-->Tesla’s Powerwall home batteries have been utilized in markets around the world, effectively letting owners store and sell stored energy back to the electrical grid in times of peak demand, outages, and other peak use cases. This kind of distributed battery system is being piloted or run in a number of U.S. states, including California, Texas, and Massachusetts, and in a few other countries and territories.
The company currently builds Powerwalls at its Gigafactory in Nevada, and the facility in November celebrated building over 1,000 of the home batteries in a single day as it continues to ramp production. In October, Tesla also said that it had over 100,000 Powerwalls participating in its VPP programs worldwide.
Tesla shows off solar, Powerwall-backed display at Giga Berlin
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Tesla Giga Berlin is still ramping production to meet Model Y demand: plant manager
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin has expanded to two full shifts, as per the facility’s plant manager, and a lot of it is due to Model Y demand.
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin has expanded to two full shifts, as per the facility’s plant manager, and a lot of it is due to Model Y demand. While registrations in some countries such as Sweden have fallen sharply this year, the company’s sales in other key territories have been rising.
Giga Berlin shifts to two shifts
Giga Berlin factory manager André Thierig told the DPA that the facility has been running two shifts since September to manage a surge in global orders. And due to the tariff dispute with the United States, vehicles that are produced at Giga Berlin are now being exported to Canada.
“We deliver to well over 30 markets and definitely see a positive trend there,” Thierig said.
Despite Giga Berlin now having two shifts, the facility’s production still needs to ramp up more. This is partly due to the addition of the Tesla Model Y Performance and Standard, which are also being produced in the Grunheide-based factory. Interestingly enough, Giga Berlin still only produces the Model Y, unlike other factories like Gigafactory Texas, the Fremont Factory, and Gigafactory Shanghai, which produce more than one type of vehicle.
Norway’s momentum
Norway, facing an imminent tax increase on cars, has seen a historic spike in Tesla purchases as buyers rush to secure deliveries before the change takes effect, as noted in a CarUp report. As per recent reports, Tesla has broken Norway’s all-time annual sales record this month, beating Volkswagen’s record that has stood since 2016.
-->What is rather remarkable is the fact that Tesla was able to achieve so much in Norway with one hand practically tied behind its back. This is because the company’s biggest sales draw, FSD, remains unavailable in the country. Fortunately, Tesla is currently hard at work attempting to get FSD approved for Europe, a notable milestone that should spur even more vehicle sales in the region.
Tesla is launching a crazy Full Self-Driving free trial, which will enable owners who have not purchased the suite outright to try it for 30 days.
There are a handful of stipulations that will be needed in order for you to qualify for the free trial, which was announced on Thursday night.
Tesla said the trial is for v14, the company’s latest version of the Full Self-Driving suite, and will be available to new and existing Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck owners, who will have the opportunity to try the latest features, including Speed Profiles, Arrival Options, and other new upgrades.
🚨 Tesla is launching a free 30-day trial of Full Self-Driving in North America for owners.
It includes every model, but you need v14.2 or later, and you cannot have already purchased the suite outright. https://t.co/8CNmxxOkVl
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 27, 2025
You must own one of the five Tesla models, have Full Self-Driving v14.2 or later, and have an eligible vehicle in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, or Canada.
The company said it is a non-transferable trial, which is not redeemable for cash. Tesla is reaching out to owners via email to give them the opportunity to enable the Full Self-Driving trial.
Those who are subscribed to the monthly Full Self-Driving program are eligible, so they will essentially get a free month of the suite.
Once it is installed, the trial will begin, and the 30-day countdown will begin.
Tesla is making a major push to increase its Full Self-Driving take rate, as it revealed that about 12 percent of owners are users of the program during its recent earnings call.
Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said during the call:
“We feel that as people experience the supervised FSD at scale, demand for our vehicles, like Elon said, would increase significantly. On the FSD adoption front, we’ve continued to see decent progress. However, note that the total paid FSD customer base is still small, around 12% of our current fleet.”
Earlier today, we reported on Tesla also launching a small-scale advertising campaign on X for the Full Self-Driving suite, hoping to increase adoption.
Tesla Full Self-Driving warrants huge switch-up on essential company strategy
It appears most people are pretty content with the subscription program. It costs just $99 a month, in comparison to the $8,000 fee it is for the outright purchase.
Tesla Full Self-Driving has warranted a huge switch-up on an essential company strategy as the automaker is hoping to increase the take rate of the ADAS suite.
Unlike other automotive companies, Tesla has long been an outlier, as it has famously ditched a traditional advertising strategy in favor of organic buzz, natural word-of-mouth through its production innovation, and utilizing CEO Elon Musk’s huge social media presence to push its products.
Tesla has taken the money that it would normally spend on advertising and utilized it for R&D purposes. For a long time, it yielded great results, and ironically, Tesla saw benefits from other EV makers running ads.
Tesla counters jab at lack of advertising with perfect response
However, in recent years, Tesla has decided to adjust this strategy, showing a need to expand beyond its core enthusiast base, which is large, but does not span over millions and millions as it would need to fend off global EV competitors, which have become more well-rounded and a better threat to the company.
In 2024 and 2025, Tesla started utilizing ads to spread knowledge about its products. This is continuing, as Full Self-Driving ads are now being spotted on social media platforms, most notably, X, which is owned by Musk:
NEWS: Tesla is running paid advertisements on X about FSD (Supervised). Here’s an ad they started running yesterday: pic.twitter.com/IHVywLMyTd
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 25, 2025
Interestingly, Tesla’s strategy on FSD advertising is present in Musk’s new compensation package, as the eleventh tranche describes a goal of achieving 10 million active paid FSD subscriptions.
Full Self-Driving is truly Tesla’s primary focus moving forward, although it could be argued that it also has a special type of dedication toward its Optimus robot project. However, FSD will ultimately become the basis for the Robotaxi, which will enable autonomous ride-sharing across the globe as it is permitted in more locations.
Tesla has been adjusting its advertising strategy over the past couple of years, and it seems it is focused on more ways to spread awareness about its products. It will be interesting to see if the company will expand its spending even further, as it has yet to put on a commercial during live television.
We wouldn’t put it out of the question, at least not yet.
Tesla Giga Berlin is still ramping production to meet Model Y demand: plant manager
Tesla launches crazy Full Self-Driving free trial: here’s how you can get it
