Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) does not want to restrict itself to just being a car manufacturer, and plans to become an energy innovation company as well. At the annual Silicon Valley Energy Storage Symposium, J.B. Straubel. Tesla Motors CTO and SolarCity board member, said that Tesla is and energy innovation company as much as a car company, according to a report from Green Tech Media.
“We are an energy innovation company as much as a car company,” said Straubel while replying to a question on company’s involvement in the production of stationary energy storage.
Vast improvement in batteries over past decade
Straubel explained that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) had developed the use lithium-ion batteries in the cars since 2003, and today the same process is followed by almost every automaker adapting lithium-ion batteries for cars. He added that developments in battery technology during the past decade has also enhanced the use of lithium-ion batteries.
The time gap between the launch of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) Roadster and the Model S saw around a 40% improvement in battery life. Furthermore, battery energy density has doubled over the past decade. Tesla is preparing to set up a giant Gigafactory for the mass production of lithium-ion batteries packs to increase its electric car production up to 500,000 per year or more. According to Straubel, some of the factory production will be reserved for stationary energy storage.
Large scale battery production sustainable believe Tesla
Straubel noted that stationary energy storage can “scale faster than automotive,” and there is no major difference between the architecture of vehicle batteries and residential energy storage so Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is capable of supplying both. Additionally, Straubel is confident that the energy storage market would grow at a higher speed than people expect, and growth of renewable would further escalate the market growth over the next decade.
Previously, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk explained his reasoning on why he believes the large-scale production of lithium-ion battery packs is going to be sustainable. Musk said that there is no material shortage and the earth crust has an infinite amount of material for humanity. Musk also added that humans have hardly exploited the earth crust for metal resources. He added that this is different from mining coal or oil because metal is recycled.
Musk said, “So once you have enough metal to support a given size of industry, then it just keeps going in a recycling process. There may be a small amount that exits through a recycling process, but it’s quite a small amount.”
