Connect with us
Nottingham Tesla Battery Nottingham Tesla Battery

News

Roofing industry keeps close watch on Tesla Solar Roof as production nears

Published

on

The first installation of Tesla’s highly anticipated Solar Roof product is expected to take place in the coming months, bringing the company one step closer to providing a comprehensive and arguably best looking “sun-to-vehicle” system possible. As we near the inaugural installations, those in the solar industry are keeping a close watch on the impact Tesla’s roll out will have on solar demand and the entire category as a whole.

Tesla’s Solar Roof glass tiles— offered in four styles of Tuscan, Slate, Textured, and Smooth—  look like regular roof tiles from ground level, but embedded with photovoltaic solar cells underneath. Tesla claims the glass tiles are more resilient than traditional roof tiles, and the company guarantees them for the lifetime of the house. Sweetening the whole deal, Tesla— with the help of SolarCity, which it merged with in November 2016— includes the labor and materials of tearing down your old roof and installing the new in the purchase of a Solar Roof.

Tesla is not the first to produce solar tiles. In 2016, Dow Chemical stopped its production of solar shingles five years after it first launched them, citing the low efficiency and high costs of their product. Other companies, such as Forward Labs, already produce such a product, but none have the visibility and ability to capture the attention of the media like Tesla and Elon Musk.

Over the past few years, the growth of demand for residential solar installations has begun to slow: consumer preferences have shifted more to community-based systems, electricity prices have plummeted due to falling natural gas and oil prices, and utility companies have begun to push back against catering to those who want to go “off-the-grid.” In an industry with few recent and dramatic product-level innovations, the excitement over residential solar systems has been cooling. According to Forbes, installation growth rates dropped from 63% per year from 2013 to 2015, to merely 16% in 2016. Some believe that Tesla’s high-visibility and loyal consumer base can reinvigorate the market. Grace Robertson, marketing manager of LightWave Solar, a solar installation company not affiliated with Tesla, said that Tesla’s movement has prompted local interest in LightWave Solar and the solar industry as a whole.

“The Solar Roof announcement generated a buzz and we got a few more phone calls than usual,” wrote Robertson in a comment to Teslarati. “It gets people excited about solar.”

Advertisement

But Tesla’s product is not just a replacement for solar panels: it is a replacement for solar panels and the entire roof they sit on. This comes with a hefty price tag. Tesla has advertised that the cost of the solar roof, offset by tax breaks and generation of solar energy, will be competitive with the price of a more traditional roof made with comparable materials. But these “comparable materials”— slate, glass, and terra-cotta— do not include the asphalt shingles that top over 75% of American homes. That focuses the market down to the other 25%.

According to Tesla’s Solar Roof cost calculator, the estimated cost and benefit of a solar roof is highly dependent on one’s location, typical electricity bill, and square footage of your house. For a typical residence in Massachusetts of 2,400 square feet with a $215/mo electric bill, a solar roof in which 60% of tiles are solar panels, would cost $71,600, not including the addition of a Powerwall 2 home battery storage system. Offsetting the cost is the projected $99,300 worth of energy generated by the roof over 30 years in addition to a $20,400 federal tax credit. Over those 30 years, Tesla estimates the home-owner will earn a net $41,100. Not a bad deal, although re-roofing the same house with asphalt shingles would cost only around $11,000 to $17,000. For a similar-sized house in central Iowa, the Tesla calculator recommends a covering of 50% solar tiles for the roof, with an upfront price tag of $40,500 (plus a $7,000 Powerwall 2 battery) for a net cost of $7,100 over 30 years. Not as great a deal.

For some, high property taxes and already low electricity bills make these upfront costs even less attractive. As Senior Technology Editor at Ars Technica Lee Hutchinson pointed out on Twitter: “My 2600sqft **HOUSE** only cost $200k. My property taxes would explode w/adding another 50% onto the home’s appraised value [with a solar roof].”

Advertisement

Hutchinson lives in Texas, and expressed the concerns of many who wish they could buy into the solar roofs, but can’t get past the sticker shock. Elon Musk replied that he understood the concern over the high prices, tweeting: “This is true. The economics are not yet compelling where housing and utility costs are low and property taxes are high.”

Robertson, from LightWave Solar, noted that while Tesla’s product is bringing renewed interest to the solar industry, she does not expect the solar roof to significantly impact the sales of more traditional solar panels due to these high upfront costs.

“Since most of our customers want the most cost-effective solar solution, we don’t expect the Solar Roof to put much of a dent in our sales of traditional solar panels,” wrote Robertson.

However, in an op-ed for the San Francisco Tribune, CEO and founder of EnergySage Vikram Aggarwal, an online solar marketplace backed by the U.S. Department of Energy, argued that the buzz around Tesla’s Solar Roof may not be too good for traditional solar installers after all. Aggarwal wrote that before the tiles are installed and tested on real people’s houses, the uncertainty around the roof’s total cost and energy production will cause consumers to delay buying the product until more information is available. In the meantime, those who have become excited about solar energy are not giving business to local solar panel installers either.

“The Tesla Solar Roof should be viewed as a well-designed luxury roofing product first — its solar production benefits are an additional benefit, but not its core offering,” wrote Aggarwal. “Until more comprehensive, transparent information about the all-in costs of the Tesla Solar Roof are made available, his revolutionary product may only take the wind out of the rest of the solar industry’s sails.”

Advertisement

But for those who are already willing to pay for high-end roofing materials and who are looking to re-roof in the near future, the Solar Roof could be a great addition to their house and other Tesla products.

With the high costs and slow roll-out, the Solar Roof isn’t expected to immediately revolutionize the solar industry in the US. Most people probably will not see solar shingles in their neighborhood for several years yet. What it will do is push the solar industry back into the limelight for at least a few months and encourage consumers to reimagine a home powered by the sun in a new era of fashionable renewable energy. Tesla is not the first to bring accessible solar to residential areas, but it is the first in a long time to make it cool.

Elon Musk

Tesla investors will be shocked by Jim Cramer’s latest assessment

Jim Cramer is now speaking positively about Tesla, especially in terms of its Robotaxi performance and its perception as a company.

Published

on

Credit: CNBC Television/YouTube

Tesla investors will be shocked by analyst Jim Cramer’s latest assessment of the company.

When it comes to Tesla analysts, many of them are consistent. The bulls usually stay the bulls, and the bears usually stay the bears. The notable analysts on each side are Dan Ives and Adam Jonas for the bulls, and Gordon Johnson for the bears.

Jim Cramer is one analyst who does not necessarily fit this mold. Cramer, who hosts CNBC’s Mad Money, has switched his opinion on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) many times.

He has been bullish, like he was when he said the stock was a “sleeping giant” two years ago, and he has been bearish, like he was when he said there was “nothing magnificent” about the company just a few months ago.

Now, he is back to being a bull.

Advertisement

Cramer’s comments were related to two key points: how NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang describes Tesla after working closely with the Company through their transactions, and how it is not a car company, as well as the recent launch of the Robotaxi fleet.

Jensen Huang’s Tesla Narrative

Cramer says that the narrative on quarterly and annual deliveries is overblown, and those who continue to worry about Tesla’s performance on that metric are misled.

“It’s not a car company,” he said.

He went on to say that people like Huang speak highly of Tesla, and that should be enough to deter any true skepticism:

“I believe what Musk says cause Musk is working with Jensen and Jensen’s telling me what’s happening on the other side is pretty amazing.”

Advertisement

Tesla self-driving development gets huge compliment from NVIDIA CEO

Robotaxi Launch

Many media outlets are being extremely negative regarding the early rollout of Tesla’s Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas.

There have been a handful of small issues, but nothing significant. Cramer says that humans make mistakes in vehicles too, yet, when Tesla’s test phase of the Robotaxi does it, it’s front page news and needs to be magnified.

He said:

“Look, I mean, drivers make mistakes all the time. Why should we hold Tesla to a standard where there can be no mistakes?”

Advertisement

It’s refreshing to hear Cramer speak logically about the Robotaxi fleet, as Tesla has taken every measure to ensure there are no mishaps. There are safety monitors in the passenger seat, and the area of travel is limited, confined to a small number of people.

Tesla is still improving and hopes to remove teleoperators and safety monitors slowly, as CEO Elon Musk said more freedom could be granted within one or two months.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla launches ultra-fast V4 Superchargers in China for the first time

Tesla has V4 Superchargers rolling out in China for the first time.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla already has nearly 12,000 Supercharger piles across mainland China. However, the company just initiated the rollout of the ultra-fast V4 Superchargers in China for the first time, bringing its quick-charging piles to the country for the first time since their launch last year.

The first batch of V4 Superchargers is now officially up and running in China, the company announced in a post on Chinese social media outlet Weibo today.

Tesla China teases arrival of V4 Superchargers in 2025

The company said in the post:

“The first batch of Tesla V4 Superchargers are online. Covering more service areas, high-speed charging is more convenient, and six-layer powerful protection such as rain and waterproof makes charging very safe. Simultaneously open to non-Tesla vehicles, and other brands of vehicles can also be charged. There are more than 70,000 Tesla Superchargers worldwide. The charging network layout covers 100% of the provincial capitals and municipalities in mainland China. More V4 Superchargers will be put into use across the country. Optimize the charging experience and improve energy replenishment efficiency. Tesla will accompany you to the mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas with pure electricity!”

Advertisement

The first V4 Superchargers Tesla installed in China are available in four cities across the country: Shanghai, Zhejiang, Gansu, and Chongqing.

Credit: Tesla China

Tesla has over 70,000 Superchargers worldwide. It is the most expansive and robust EV charging network in the world. It’s the main reason why so many companies have chosen to adopt Tesla’s charging connector in North America and Europe.

In China, some EVs can use Tesla Superchargers as well.

The V4 Supercharger is capable of charging vehicles at speeds of up to 325kW for vehicles in North America. This equates to over 1,000 miles per hour of charging.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk hints at when Tesla could reduce Safety Monitors from Robotaxi

Tesla could be reducing Safety Monitors from Robotaxi within ‘a month or two,’ CEO Elon Musk says.

Published

on

Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Elon Musk hinted at when Tesla could begin reducing Safety Monitors from its Robotaxis. Safety Monitors are Tesla employees who sit in the front passenger seat during the driverless rides, and are there to ensure safety for occupants during the earliest rides.

Tesla launched its Robotaxi fleet in Austin last Sunday, and after eight days, videos and reviews from those who have ridden in the driverless vehicles have shown that the suite is safe, accurate, and well coordinated. However, there have been a few hiccups, but nothing that has put anyone’s safety in danger.

A vast majority — close to all of the rides — at least according to those who have ridden in the Robotaxi, have been performed without any real need for human intervention. We reported on what was the first intervention last week, as a Safety Monitor had to step in and stop the vehicle in a strange interaction with a UPS truck.

Watch the first true Tesla Robotaxi intervention by safety monitor

The Tesla and UPS delivery truck were going for the same street parking space, and the Tesla began to turn into it. The UPS driver parallel parked into the spot, which was much smaller than his truck. It seemed to be more of an instance of human error instead of the Robotaxi making the wrong move. This is something that the driverless cars will have to deal with because humans are aggressive and sometimes make moves they should not.

Advertisement

The Safety Monitors have not been too active in the vehicles. After all, we’ve only seen that single instance of an intervention. There was also an issue with the sun, when the Tesla braked abnormally due to the glare, but this was an instance where the car handled the scenario and proceeded normally.

With the Robotaxi fleet operating impressively, some are wondering when Tesla will begin scaling back both the Safety Monitors and Teleoperators that it is using to ensure safety with these early rides.

CEO Elon Musk answered the inquiry by stating, “As soon as we feel it is safe to do so. Probably within a month or two.”

Musk’s response seems to confirm that there will be fewer Teleoperators and Safety Monitors in the coming months, but there will still be some within the fleet to ensure safety. Eventually, that number will get to zero.

Reaching a point where Tesla’s Robotaxi is driverless will be another significant milestone for the company and its path to fully autonomous ride-sharing.

Eventually, Tesla will roll out these capabilities to consumer-owned vehicles, offering them a path to generate revenue as their car operates autonomously and completes rides.

For now, Tesla is focusing on perfecting the area of Austin where it is currently offering driverless rides for just $4.20 to a small group of people.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending