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posted by mrpg on Sunday May 14 2017, @06:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the hot-idea dept.

Tesla's Solar Roof Pricing Is Cheap Enough to Catch Fire

Tesla Inc. has begun taking $1,000 deposits for its remarkable solar roof tiles—to be delivered this summer at a price point that could expand the U.S. solar market.

Tesla will begin with production of two of the four styles it unveiled in October: a smooth glass and a textured glass tile. 1 Roofing a 2,000 square-foot home in New York state—with 40 percent coverage of active solar tiles and battery backup for night-time use—would cost about $50,000 after federal tax credits and generate $64,000 in energy over 30 years, according to Tesla's website calculator.

That's more expensive upfront than a typical roof, but less expensive than a typical roof with traditional solar and back-up batteries. The warranty is for the lifetime of your home.

"The pricing is better than I expected, better than everyone expected," said Hugh Bromley, a solar analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance who had been skeptical about the potential market impact of the new product. Tesla's cost for active solar tiles is about $42 per square foot, "significantly below" BNEF's prior estimate of $68 per square foot, Bromley said. Inactive tiles will cost $11 per square foot.

Also: Elon Musk has discovered a new passion in life — and it could be Tesla's best product yet


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  • (Score: 2) by Whoever on Sunday May 14 2017, @05:03PM (4 children)

    by Whoever (4524) on Sunday May 14 2017, @05:03PM (#509524) Journal

    Tesla has all the luxury car makers scared so stiff they've even started admitting it in public these days.

    But those car makers still haven't understood Tesla's key advantage (in the USA at least): high-speed charging infrastructure along the highways, making long journeys possible.

    You can buy a Bolt with an impressive range, but don't try to drive it cross-country, because it's going to be a very slow trip (if it's even possible).

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  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Sunday May 14 2017, @05:37PM (3 children)

    by kaszz (4211) on Sunday May 14 2017, @05:37PM (#509544) Journal

    It can't be recharged at Tesla stations? and there is no other electric recharge stations?
    Ie, no SAE Combined Charging System CCS connector?

    • (Score: 2) by Whoever on Sunday May 14 2017, @09:31PM

      by Whoever (4524) on Sunday May 14 2017, @09:31PM (#509613) Journal

      No.

      Tesla limits use of Superchargers to Tesla cars and with the Model 3, will limit free usage.

      And while there are CCS charging stations, for the most part they are slower than superchargers and they are in towns, not along the highways. In summary, not suitable for long interstate journeys (or even long intra-state journeys in states like Texas and California).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 14 2017, @11:38PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 14 2017, @11:38PM (#509642)

      There will be fast charging stations for Bolt at Chevy dealers and this site https://www.aggdata.com/aggdata/complete-list-chevrolet-dealer-locations [aggdata.com] claims there are nearly 3000 Chevy Dealers in USA.

      This https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/22/14703712/tesla-supercharger-growth-model-usa-canada-mexico [theverge.com] claims there are nearly 400 Tesla Supercharger locations in USA, with nearly double that planned by the end of 2017.

      There is a Tesla Supercharger a couple of miles from my local Interstate highway exit, but the local Chevy dealer is even closer...and while that is the only Supercharger in this metro area of about a million people, there are five Chevy dealers (more if you look a little outside town).

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Whoever on Monday May 15 2017, @08:41PM

        by Whoever (4524) on Monday May 15 2017, @08:41PM (#510222) Journal

        First of all, it's only Chevy dealers that plan to sell the Bolt that will be required to install chargers, not all 3000 across the USA.

        Secondly, imagine you want to drive up or down I5 in CA, compare these two images:
        Chevy dealerships along I5 [ibb.co] and
        Superchargers along I5. [ibb.co]

        Even if you assume that every Chevy dealership installs a CCS charger, you will still have a problem driving the main N/S artery in CA.

        Finally, the Bolt's actual real-life charging rate is not as high as a Tesla connected to a Supercharger.

        So, no, a Bolt is not a practical only car yet and there is no plan to make it such.