With Tesla’s “major new product line” announcement scheduled to take place next week, new reports have surfaced that support the idea the company’s much-hyped unveiling is for a new line of batteries to power homes and businesses. One in particular points out the company’s new energy source is already at work powering several Walmart stores.
Bloomberg reports that Tesla has been testing its new batteries at 11 Walmart stores in California.
The testing is part of a pilot program between Tesla and its sister company SolarCity, which already provides residential energy-storage units for about 300 consumers.
As Consumerist previously reported the new batteries can be used with things like solar panels to collect and distribute electricity as needed, especially in developing parts of the world or in areas where it’s impractical to run electrical wiring or operate a gas-powered generator.
Mack Wycoff, Walmart’s senior manager for renewable energy and emissions tells Bloomberg that the company has long been interested in energy storage.
“Instead of pulling electricity from the grid, you discharge it from the battery,” he said. “Ideally you know when your period of peak demand is, and you discharge it then.”
The company is also reportedly working with food processing company Cargill to test the batteries at a 200,000 square-foot plant in Fresno.
According to Bloomberg, Tesla has also recently inked deals with a California winery and an area school district to provide alternative energy means through new batteries and solar panels.
Bloomberg’s review of California’s Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) shows the company has even greater ambitions for its new venture.
“Tesla has been able to install more than 100 projects, really without anyone noticing,” Andrea James, an analyst with Dougherty & Co., tells Bloomberg.
Tesla Wants to Power Wal-Mart [Bloomberg]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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