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> Any cleverness about domestic grid pricing will likely have to be enabled by national grid controllers, and accessible to all energy companies. While I do thi

> Any cleverness about domestic grid pricing will likely have to be enabled by national grid controllers, and accessible to all energy companies. While I do think it will come, I would doubt that there's room for anyone to have a monopoly in most markets, and I think it may actually be a hard sell to consumers, because traditionally consumers _hate_ variable pricing, even if it's ultimately to their benefit, for psychological reasons. Using something like Powerwall means you can still have lower rates with variable pricing. When most are connected to the traditional energy grid running their AC units during the peak hours and getting charged peak rates, you can draw from Powerwall where you've stored energy either over time or potentially over night when rates are cheaper. Automatically. You can also eventually probably see real-time electric rates. With software, Telsa could potentially bid on electricity and find reduced rates for you. There's a lot of possibilities here. Idk what the future will hold, but do I want to bet on Duke Energy and BMW or do I want to bet on Tesla? I'm probably betting on Tesla based on what I've seen as part of my portfolio.

rsynnott 6y ago
Sure, but again Tesla doesn't have a monopoly on battery storage, and battery storage would be expected to become pretty low margin. I would think that Tesla's best avenue for lasting high margins would actually be the cars; other companies have managed that before, especially in the luxury/semi-luxury market (BMW's margins are decent, say). But they'd really need to capture the whole high end market, if not more high end market than actually exists, to justify their prices.
- ericmay 6y ago
  Well, you don't need a monopoly on battery storage do you? Besides the fact that no other company has demonstrated the ability to actually install a battery system in the way that Tesla has, the monopoly comes with the total integration of the hardware, services, AND software to effectively allocate prices. I don't see any other company really competing in this space. Are there any that you can think of? > But they'd really need to capture the whole high end market, if not more high end market than actually exists, to justify their prices. Why? They can probably effectively sell Tesla Model 3 style sedans at BMW or better margins around $35,000. I don't think they need to capture the high-end market anymore than Apple does. Sure, insert famous person here uses an iPhone, but so do I and so does my grandma.

rsynnott 6y ago

Sure, but again Tesla doesn't have a monopoly on battery storage, and battery storage would be expected to become pretty low margin. I would think that Tesla's best avenue for lasting high margins would actually be the cars; other companies have managed that before, especially in the luxury/semi-luxury market (BMW's margins are decent, say). But they'd really need to capture the whole high end market, if not more high end market than actually exists, to justify their prices.

ericmay 6y ago
Well, you don't need a monopoly on battery storage do you? Besides the fact that no other company has demonstrated the ability to actually install a battery system in the way that Tesla has, the monopoly comes with the total integration of the hardware, services, AND software to effectively allocate prices. I don't see any other company really competing in this space. Are there any that you can think of? > But they'd really need to capture the whole high end market, if not more high end market than actually exists, to justify their prices. Why? They can probably effectively sell Tesla Model 3 style sedans at BMW or better margins around $35,000. I don't think they need to capture the high-end market anymore than Apple does. Sure, insert famous person here uses an iPhone, but so do I and so does my grandma.