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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
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 14 2017, @05:41PM (3 children)
They are a sign that a company is struggling. Asking for cash deposits points in the same direction.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 14 2017, @06:25PM (2 children)
Are you suggesting that people should just sign up and then decide later that oh I dont really want the order, forget it -- and have no repercussions?
Tesla is doing this not only to gauge interest, but to gauge interest in people serious enough to buy. If they gauged interest by seriously and stupidly believing they would sell to everyone that signed up for free as you seem to suggest is an indicator of a strong business, they would be incredibly surprised about all of the people that suddenly did not want or could not afford or refused to accept calls about the signup, once manufacturing was underway and the finances needed to be worked out for the order.
They charged a down payment for their cars, too. And still do. They can't just give away the hardware and hope someone will buy it, nor expect that an unproven product will sell based on what the wisdom of the internet believes. Instead, they wisely demand money from people seriously considering it.
$1,000 is not something to forget about, and so it will draw only people with the money to spend and likely the will to proceed with the order.
You are very likely not one of those people that are interested.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 14 2017, @10:34PM
Cash deposits are 100% refundable. [tesla.com]
That is not just Tesla, that's effectively the law for any auto manufacturer.
Also, the roof deposits are fully refundable too. [techcrunch.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 15 2017, @02:09AM
Tesla wants cash now. That is why they are taking deposits. As the other post says, it's nominally refundable, so you're not actually committed to anything. Unless Tesla goes bust.