The Australian retail price of the Tesla Powerwall 2 home battery has made another move, this time in a downwards direction, falling by $A550 to $A12,750 including GST, not including installation costs.
The price decrease, which appears to be in step with foreign exchange rates, follows two consecutive $800 jumps to the price of the battery in Australia, the first of which in November of 2020 raised the cost of the Powerwall from $11,700 to $12,500.
The November price rise came one month after a $US500 price rise was implemented in America, in response to sustained “through the roof” demand for the Tesla home battery, particularly in the company’s home market.
A second price increase in the US market in early 2021 was then again replicated in Australia in February, taking the price to $A13,300.
Tesla reported a continuing surge in demand of home battery storage systems at its most recent quarterly earnings call in April, exacerbated by a struggle to catch up to a backlog caused by a shortage of battery cells.
But against this background of tight supply and price fluctuations, Tesla boss Elon Musk has also flagged a significant upgrade to the capabilities of the company’s home battery system, in an upgraded offering dubbed Powerwall Plus.
Musk said in April that the “Powerwall plus” would have twice the power capability of the current battery, suggesting its charging rate could be double to 10kW and its peak discharge rate to 14kW. The total storage remains at 13.5kWh. He also hinted at an upgraded connection that would simplify the installation process and make the solar and battery system a completely integrated unit.
Tesla has also implemented a new strategy in the US where it will only sell its Tesla solar PV panels and integrated solar glass tile roof as a package deal with a Powerwall 2.
The strategy, announced by Musk on Twitter, was partly explained as way to make installation “super simple” and to offer customers “seamless whole house back-up” in case of grid outages.
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