Tesla Model 3 and Storage
Photo by Martin Katler on Unsplash
Tesla, famed electric car company that brought us the Model S and the Roadster, unveiled its latest product, the Model 3, last week. Yes I know Im late to the party with this post…
Interested parties have been waiting quite a while for this car. It is equally important to Tesla as it is their foray down market and into mass market production. Prior to this, all of their offerings had been expensive ($80,000-$100,000+).
The reason for this delay was the lack of inexpensive battery technology that offered enough range to make the car viable for the average driver.
Tesla must have cracked the code because along with the unveiling they release numbers indicating the car will go at least 215 per charge. Combine that with a $35,000 price tag (before incentives), standard autopilot, and 0-60 in less than 6 seconds, this could be a serious contender in the entry level luxury market. I think its no coincidence, for example, that the name so closely resembles that of the 3 series BMW. The Model 3 going straight for that customer base.
A lot has been written about this car already so Ill refrain from parroting what others have said better. What is interesting from our perspective is what this is going to do to our storage model.
Only a few electrical cars have trickled in over the past 4-5 years. We’ve stored a few Priuses, Volts, and even a Tesla Model S. We have always had enough outlets to accommodate these folks.
However, this car, at present count, has garnered 215,000 reservations at $1000 apiece. Aside from the fact that these customers-to-be have just given Tesla a $215 Million interest free loan, this is an extremely strong indication that the American public is very interested in an affordable electric car. Anecdotally I had a friend who now drives a Porsche Boxer with a manual put down a deposit on one of these cars. That’s quite a shift in automotive ethos.
This communicates to us that in a few years, we will start to see more and more electric cars come in for storage. This presents infrastructure challenges. How many outlets will we need? Will we install 110 or 220 volt versions? Will we charge more to these customers or install solar panels to hedge costs. What does 3 years of sitting do to an electric motor? Electronics? Batteries?
Its something we will have to contend with…but are certainly ready to take on the challenge.
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