Forget Cars, Tesla Wants to Revolutionize Power Storage
A few weeks ago Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased a major announcement set for April 30:
Major new Tesla product line -- not a car -- will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio on Thurs 8pm, April 30
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2015
Aside from causing Twitter to respond like a 13-year-old at a One Direction concert, Musk's opaque tweet caused a legion of speculators to ponder what exactly Tesla has up its sleeve. According to Klint Finley over at WIRED, Musk's big surprise is likely a line of "mega-batteries for homes and electric utility companies."
"Tesla isn't an automaker," proclaims the headline above Finley's story. "It's a battery company."
It makes sense. The crucial element which sets Tesla's cars apart from the competition is its unique proprietary power supply. Expanding on that technology seems like the logical next step for a company that may foresee a future when car ownership isn't nearly as important as it is now. And while Finley mentions Tesla could soon be supplying batteries for utility companies, it wouldn't be a shock to see the company move forward in an effort to disrupt the power companies.
(If so: Please Elon, slay Time Warner and Comcast after you take on the power companies).
Of course, that's merely conjecture. All of this is merely conjecture. For all we know Musk's big announcement could be something totally different. Maybe he'll reveal that he's replacing Zayn. I wouldn't put anything past him at this point.
But if Finley is right in his educated guess, the most important thing to take away is that Musk and company will be embarking on a mission to redefine the future of technological innovation. Battery power has long held back the advancement of computer technology, as Singularity University's Brad Templeton explains in the video below. Musk's style has always been characterized by his (literal) shoot-for-the-stars ambition. As Templeton says, the sky's the limit once we develop the better battery.
Read more at WIRED
Photo credit: Delices / Shutterstock
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