On Tuesday, Tesla’s Australia and New Zealand account posted on X that the Powerwall 3, Wall Connector, and Mobile Connector are now available at select Bunnings Warehouse locations. The announcement comes as the first such partnership to sell Tesla’s Energy products third-party, and just months after the company’s latest home battery was launched in the country.

The Mobile Connector is listed on the Bunnings Warehouse website at $550 AUD (~$358 USD) and the Wall Connector priced at $800 AUD (~$521 USD). The select Bunnings Warehouse locations are also able to perform installations for the users,

In order to buy the Powerwall 3, users must request a quote from Tesla’s website, not including delivery, installation, or additional costs, though the website says it will be priced at roughly $11,900 AUD for one Powerwall, $23,800 AUD for two, or $35,700 AUD for three, with the gateway estimated to cost $1,700 AUD.

Tesla ad shows EV and Powerwall customer saved 94% on electricity bill

Currently, Bunnings says installation for the charging equipment is available at select locations in Victoria and New South Wales, though it’s set to arrive at chain locations across the rest of the Australian states soon, with the exception of the Northern Territory. You can currently see the products on the Bunnings Warehouse website, and the list of initial Victoria and NSW locations where installation is available can be seen below.

Victoria Bunnings Warehouse sites with Tesla Energy products installation

• Box Hill Warehouse
• Epping Warehouse
• Hoppers Crossing Warehouse

NSW Bunnings Warehouse sites with Tesla Energy products installation

• Castle Hill Warehouse

Tesla officially launched the next-gen Powerwall 3 in Western Australia in September, following the new product’s debut in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Germany taking place throughout this year. The Powerwall 3 has several advantages over the Powerwall 2, including that it comes with a built-in solar inverter, along with being able to handle a peak power level of roughly 30kW—or enough to manage a dryer and air conditioner.

The company has also launched its Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program in certain parts of Australia, following launches of similar pilots in the U.S., Japan, and multiple other markets. The program effectively lets those with a Powerwall contribute to a giant, distributed battery using their stored power during times of peak demand, with owners able to sell electricity back to the grid to help stabilize demand generation.

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Tesla’s new battery add-on aims to increase capacity, decrease install time

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On Monday, the Tesla Energy account on X reposted an energy deployment milestone from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the vast majority of electrical operations in Texas. According to Tesla and the agency, batteries sent more power to the grid in Texas on August 20 than ever before.

It was also a record-breaking day overall for demand, solar generation, and net load, leading to the record day in battery discharge and indicating the changing energy landscape as the renewable energy storage industry grows.

“Batteries sent more power to the grid in ERCOT than ever before,” wrote ERCOT in the original thread. “Shattering the previous record, battery discharge peaked 20 percent higher than the previous record set only the day before as ERCOT released ECRS fully.”

Batteries sent more power to the grid in @ERCOT_ISO than ever before https://t.co/6s2mWAkyys

— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 26, 2024

Tesla has been a major player in the energy storage industry, with the company offering two main products for storing generated energy: its grid-scale Megapack batteries, and its smaller home and commercial Powerwall batteries.

Tesla builds its Megapack at a factory, dubbed a “Megafactory,” in Lathrop, California, and it builds the Powerwall at its Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. The company has also begun construction on its second Megafactory in Shanghai, China, with both facilities aiming for an annual production of 10,000 Megapacks upon reaching volume production.

In the second quarter, Tesla posted a record of 9.4 GWh of battery storage deployed, and the company has already predicted that the sales growth rate of its energy division would outpace that of its automotive business in 2024. Elon Musk also noted last year that the energy arm was quickly becoming the company’s highest-margin business.

Just last week, Tesla also produced a record number of Powerwall battery units at Giga Nevada, after the company surpassed 600,000 Powerwall installations globally in February.

Last August, Tesla was also approved by Texas to pilot its Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program, which lets Powerwall owners sell electricity back to the electrical grid during times of peak demand.

Tesla has also deployed several Megapack batteries in the state, with the company last month landing an over $3 billion contract to build 15.3 GWh of Megapacks across three Texas sites.

Tesla Energy tops list of best energy storage companies

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In a post from the Tesla Energy X account on Tuesday, the company announced that Giga Nevada produced over 500 Powerwall units in a single shift, marking a new production record for the home energy storage devices. The news comes as Tesla’s energy division continues to set deployment records, and months after the company debuted a next-generation version of the Powerwall.

It also comes after Tesla surpassed 600,000 Powerwall installations worldwide in February.

Credit: Tesla Energy | X

Tesla is typically quick to highlight milestones such as these, with the company in June noting that Giga Nevada produced its five millionth drive unit, as just one other example. However, Tesla’s Energy program has been deploying equipment at increasingly quick rates, with the company setting multiple delivery and production records this year.

Throughout the second quarter, Tesla set a record of 9.4 GWh of battery storage hardware deployed, beating out a previous record that Tesla set in the first quarter. Profitability on Tesla’s larger Megapack units also reached an all-time high in Q1, and the company also launched the new Powerwall 3 in the U.S. during the quarter.

Following the Powerwall 3 launch in the U.S. in February, Tesla began rolling the next-gen home battery out to additional countries over the last few months, including Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and Germany.

The Powerwall 3 is also able to withstand the elements, with Tesla in March highlighting this in an advertisement in which it submerged a unit in over two feet of water inside a fish tank.

Last month, Tesla highlighted one customer experience with the last-generation Powerwall 2 in which a customer saved 94 percent on their electricity bills within a month of installing multiple units.

Tesla Powerwall makes sure raves in Bangkok club are uninterrupted

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On Tuesday, the Tesla Energy account on X shared a brief advertisement video sharing a customer experience from Nathan, a Brisbane, Australia-based EV and Powerwall owner and owner of a ride-sharing business. The video notes that Nathan drives over 93,000 km (~57,788 miles) per year in multiple Tesla vehicles, including a Model 3, along with using solar panels and a Powerwall to power both his home and business.

The video claims that, within a month of installing multiple Powerwall home batteries, Nathan saved 94 percent on his electricity bill. It also notes that he regularly charges his vehicles with excess solar energy using Tesla’s Charge on Solar feature, showing multiple shots of the mobile app and energy ecosystem features offered by the company.

You can see the full advertisement below, as posted on X.

Nathan drives over 93,000km a year in his Tesla, within a month of installing Powerwalls he saved 94% on his electricity bill pic.twitter.com/TEn0jcJS0k

— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) July 9, 2024

Tesla has shared other advertisements for its energy products in the past, including one shared in March that highlights the latest Powerwall’s ability to be submerged in over two feet of water. While the video shows Tesla’s Powerwall 2 units, the company also launched its next-generation Powerwall 3 in select markets this year.

Increased advertising from Tesla began trickling out last year, after CEO Elon Musk told shareholders that the company would start experimenting with some small-scale ad campaigns. Although Musk had previously been opposed to advertising, many investors have argued in the past few years that ads may be necessary to help educate the public about Tesla’s EVs and energy products.

Despite sweeping layoffs in April that affected what seemed to be much of the advertising team, Tesla has continued to roll out new ads over the last couple of months.

While the vast majority of Tesla’s “advertisements” are simply posted to the company’s social media accounts, like the one above, the company has also started sharing dedicated ads on other platforms. For example, Tesla launched YouTube ads last November, and later followed up with some traditional ads on X in February.

The company has also started advertising on Cars.com this year, and it deployed a unique “Mobile Gallery” advertisement in New York and Florida, which included a Cybertruck driving around and towing a trailer hauling a Model Y in a glass case, with the glass reading, “The Best-Selling Car in the World is Made in America.”

Tesla Model Y ads surface on Facebook

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The Tesla Energy account on X announced the news on Thursday, saying that the Powerwall home battery system had launched in the island country. Buyers in the country may also qualify for a government incentive of up to 7,200 euros (~$7,786) when adding the home battery to a pre-existing solar interface, as Tesla notes in the post.

Although Tesla recently debuted its next-generation Powerwall 3, those in Malta and most other markets around the world are still the last-gen Powerwall 2. Tesla launched the updated Powerwall 3 in the first country outside the U.S. last month, officially debuting the new hardware in Canada.

Tesla didn’t officially launch Powerwall 3 orders until February, though specs had already been listed on the company’s website, and installations were quietly occurring throughout much of last year in the U.S. As of November, Tesla had deployed more than 1 GWh of Powerwall units in Europe, and the company announced in February that it had reached a worldwide total of 600,000 Powerwall installations.

In certain areas, Powerwall and solar energy hardware owners can use the technology as part of Tesla’s pilot programs of what are called Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). A VPP essentially uses several Powerwall owners to create a giant, distributed battery across a large region, letting owners sell stored electricity back to the grid during times of peak demand.

Tesla’s VPPs are currently being piloted in California, Texas, Massachusetts, and a number of other territories within and beyond the U.S.

Sales growth for Tesla’s energy division is expected to outpace that of the company’s automotive business this year, according to statements from Elon Musk made during the company’s Q3 2023 earnings call.

Tesla Energy tops list of best energy storage companies

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The mansion property is located in the Clear Creek Tahoe gated golf community in Carson City, Nevada, and is being sold by developer Whisper Homes. The development is listed for $12.75 million, and it not only includes a Cybertruck, but also a Tesla solar roof and a Powerwall battery system, according to a report from SF Gate on Saturday.

“It’s a natural fit,” said Mike Dunn, real estate agent, about the Cybertruck’s inclusion with the property.

While the company’s listing for the Lot 108 property doesn’t show the Cybertruck, instead depicting a Tesla Model S in the driveway, one photo shared with SF Gate does show a render of the electric pickup. The property, which is still being built, features 7,142 square feet with 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, along with a pool and more.

It’s also not clear what configuration of the Cybertruck is being offered, and Whisper Homes has not yet responded to Teslarati‘s request for clarification as of writing.

You can see some image renderings from the listing below, or view the full listing here.

Credit: Whisper Homes (via SF Gate)

Credit: Whisper Homes

Credit: Whisper Homes

Credit: Whisper Homes

Credit: Whisper Homes

The home also includes an elevator, a huge primary suite sporting its own porch and office, a six-car garage, and additional bedrooms and other rooms that can be used for a home theater, a gym or other entertainment options. While the house isn’t set to be completed until 2025, Dunn says putting the property up now will let buyers make last-minute calls about finishes, fixtures and overall design choices made on the house.

The site is also the first estate in the Clear Creek neighborhood with an in-ground swimming pool.

“There’s definitely a trend post-COVID in the resort communities for entertainment and family gatherings,” Dunn said. “This home was designed to embrace that. It’s a resort within a resort.”

While the Tesla Cybertruck has been re-sold by a brave few in recent weeks, this is the first we’ve seen of it being sold with a property. One flipped Cybertruck model went on sale last week for $289,999, as listed by a Porsche dealership in Florida. Despite this, sales of the Cybertruck from Tesla include a no-resale agreement, in which buyers agree to avoid selling the electric pickup within a year of ownership, or else they may be subject to a fine of $50,000 or more.

Tesla Cybertruck range test reveals impressive distance on full charge

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On Friday, the Tesla Energy account on X said that the company has reached 600,000 Powerwall installations worldwide. The milestone comes just weeks after the next-gen Powerwall 3 officially went on sale in the U.S., after Tesla had slowly been deploying the new product throughout much of last year.

600k Powerwalls installed worldwide pic.twitter.com/smFBpnXCw8

— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) February 24, 2024

Although Powerwall 3 orders only became available through Tesla’s website earlier this month, installations of the system had been spotted throughout last year and were even pointed out by CEO Elon Musk. The company also dropped the price of the Powerwall 2 in the U.S. and listed Powerwall 3 specs on its website last year, suggesting that an official launch may be imminent.

Tesla has been a dominating force in the U.S. battery storage market, claiming about 30.2 percent of the sector’s market share in the country last year. Although the Powerwall 3 isn’t yet available on the company’s website for orders outside the U.S., the company has been delivering the Powerwall 2 around the world for the past few years.

In November, Tesla announced that it had deployed more than 1 GWh of Powerwall installations in Europe, which the company said was enough to power around 41,000 homes for 12 hours.

Tesla has also been piloting what it calls “Virtual Power Plant” (VPP) programs in recent years, essentially letting Powerwall owners sell electricity back to the grid in times of peak demand—and creating a sort of giant, distributed battery across households.

The company is currently piloting VPP programs in multiple U.S. states, including California, Texas, Massachusetts, and others, along with a recent program launched in Puerto Rico, and other locations outside the U.S.

Tesla launches phase four of South Australia Virtual Power Plant

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The Powerwall 2 is now available for $8,400 on Tesla’s website, and buyers can still receive a $500 rebate on installations before October 31 (via Sawyer Merritt). The news comes ahead of Tesla’s launch of the Powerwall 3, which appeared on the company’s website earlier this month and is set to launch in 2024.

Credit: Tesla

In addition to the $300 price drop on the current generation, many Powerwall installations are eligible for additional incentives, including a 30-percent federal tax credit through the Residential Clean Energy Credit program. The price of a Powerwall with the credit and other local credits can be seen on Tesla’s order page under the “Potential Incentives” tab or by clicking the pricing estimates at the bottom of the page to reveal a full breakdown.

Tesla also notes that the price does not include installation costs, which can often add a few thousand dollars. Buyers will also have to work with Tesla-certified installers unless they’re adding the Powerwall to solar they already have installed. You can buy a Powerwall from Tesla with or without the addition of solar after the company previously disallowed customers from doing so in 2021.

While the Powerwall 3 won’t be available to order until 2024, according to Tesla’s website, some spotted early installations of the new hardware this month, which Elon Musk later confirmed.

“Powerwall 3 is a fully integrated solar and battery system, designed to meet the needs of your home,” Tesla writes on its website. “Powerwall 3 can supply more power with a single unit and is designed for easy expansion to meet your present or future needs. Powerwall 3 features an integrated solar inverter allowing solar to be connected directly for high efficiency.”

The Powerwall 2 has a total energy capacity of 13.5 kWh, which is the same as the forthcoming Powerwall 3. Tesla also offers the Powerwall+, which has the same total energy capacity as the Powerwall 2, though it has a built-in solar inverter. The Powerwall 2 requires the use of an external inverter, though the Powerwall 3 will also have one built-in.

Despite the total energy capacity of the Powerwall 2, the unit only includes a continuous energy output of 5.8kVA. The Powerwall+ offers the same amount when solar is in partial sun or 7.6kVA of continuous output in full sun. The Powerwall 3 is set to offer as much as 11.5kW of continuous output.

All Powerwall purchases include a 10-year warranty, whether you buy a Powerwall 2 or Powerwall+ now or wait until next year to purchase a Powerwall 3.

View Tesla’s full datasheets for the Powerwall 2 and the Powerwall+.

Tesla Powerwall flips the bill for sports club from €600 in payments to €20 in profit

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The upcoming Powerwall and Tesla integration feature was first spotted by Model X owner and Reddit user u/cwiedmann.

“Looking through the data returned from the API, I see there’s now evidence of upcoming features for integrating Powerwalls and car charging as Elon mentioned. This appears to be support for preventing car charging from draining the batteries when the grid is down and maybe to allow the car to absorb surplus solar energy,” u/cwiedmann wrote on the r/TeslaMotors subreddit.

When the grid goes down, Tesla Powerwalls can meet the energy demands of a home, including charging an electric car like the Model 3, Model X, or Model S. That being said, there’s a big room for improvement especially when it comes to how a Tesla vehicle communicates with the home battery system. Tesla’s electric cars have massive battery packs after all, and they can drain an off-grid Powerwall if left unattended.

This appears to have happened in May 2019 to Tesla owner Erik Strait, who also runs the YouTube channel DӔrik. Strait brought up the Powerwall issue they encountered in Colorado and suggested features that may come handy to consumers, such as a setting that allows the home battery system to prevent cars charging when they are off the grid. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded with a brief “Coming soon.”

Coming soon

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 22, 2019

Elon Musk posted his response to the Tesla owner-enthusiast last May, and there have been few updates on the feature since. Nevertheless, references to the feature in the Powerwall’s API today suggests that the home battery-electric vehicle integration may be coming sooner than expected. How the functionality will be rolled out remains to be seen too, but there’s a good chance that Tesla may introduce the feature through an over-the-air update, similar to how the company activates “Storm Watch” for Powerwall-equipped homes located in areas that are facing natural disasters.

Ultimately, the upcoming Powerwall feature shows that Tesla is making a lot of headway in integrating key features of its energy products and its electric cars. This ecosystem could ultimately encourage buyers of Tesla’s electric cars to adopt the company’s energy and battery storage products too, similar to how Apple has encouraged customers to purchase devices within its product line due to their feature integration.

Very early on, we had the ability to use the car as a battery outputting power. Maybe worth revisiting that.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 4, 2018

These recent observations on the Powerwall API also invoke some thoughts on a feature that was mentioned by Elon Musk back in 2018. In a tweet then, Musk noted that it may be worth revisiting the idea of using its cars as batteries that output power, similar to a V2G (vehicle-to-grid) system. Tesla does seem to be exploring this idea recently, as hinted at by the Cybertruck’s capability to use its massive battery pack to power tools from its onboard outlets.

Teslarati will update you once the Powerwall-Tesla electric vehicle integration feature goes live. For now, this is a welcome development so the habit of “always be charging” does not lead one to a home without power. But of course, there’s always Camp Mode just in case.

Upcoming Powerwall/Vehicle Integration API Leaks from r/teslamotors

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Just like the previous iteration of its “bug bounty” program, whose maximum payout was listed at $10,000, Tesla assured hackers that vehicles used for security research would not have their warranties voided, provided that the hacking is conducted within parameters allowed by the company. Tesla further noted that if vehicles used by participants in their good-faith security research end up being compromised, the company will take steps to update or “reflash” the hacked electric cars.

“If, through your good-faith security research, you (a pre-approved, good-faith security researcher) cause a software issue that requires your research-registered vehicle to be updated or “reflashed,” as an act of goodwill, Tesla shall make reasonable efforts to update or “reflash” Tesla software on the research-registered vehicle by over-the-air update, offering assistance at a service center to restore the vehicle’s software using our standard service tools, or other actions we deem appropriate,” Tesla noted.

Tesla’s bug bounty program started back in 2015, though the company initially invited hackers to find vulnerabilities on its website only. During that time, no vehicles were open for hacking, and the rewards offered for security researchers were far more modest at $25 to $1,000. Tesla eventually increased the scope of its bug bounty program to its vehicles, where it was eventually followed by other carmakers. Chrysler, for one, invited security researchers to hack into its Uconnect infotainment system apps and Eco-Drive driving efficiency apps in 2016.

As long as your work complies with our bug bounty policy, Tesla will not void your warranty if you hack our software https://t.co/HhibE1UpRC https://t.co/NIISSrrViD

— Tesla (@Tesla) September 5, 2018

Tesla raised the bar of its bug bounty program last September, allowing owners to actively hack into their own cars without the danger of voiding their vehicles’ warranties. The electric car maker further noted then that it would not be bringing copyright infringement claims to those working within its initiative’s rules. Bugcrowd CTO Casey Ellis, who works for the company that administers Tesla’s bounties, tweeted in support of Tesla’s initiative, stating that the move “rings a very loud bell for the legitimacy of good-faith security research.”

In a way, Tesla’s strategy towards its bug bounty program reflects the company’s Silicon Valley roots, considering that other tech giants such as Google also have active programs rewarding security researchers for finding vulnerabilities in their products. Amidst an internet landscape that is getting more and more concerned about internet security, Tesla’s security initiatives all but ensure that the company’s vehicles, while being consistently connected to the web, are as secure as possible.

Tesla’s mastery of hardware and software is among the reasons why the company is proving to be a real disruptor in the auto market. Just like Apple, Tesla adopts an in-house approach to both its software and hardware, creating a unified experience that is quite unlike anything in the market today. With the upcoming release of the first features of its Full Self-Driving suite, the rollout of Hardware 3, and the deployment of larger neural networks, Tesla’s vehicles are bound to get even more connected than before.

The electric car maker does not really announce the bugs that are being reported to the company, though several new features of Tesla’s electric cars are borne from the efforts of security researchers, including the “PIN to Drive” feature.

Newly discovered vulnerabilities must be reported within 168 hours and zero minutes, or 7 days from when the vulnerability was first discovered, to qualify for a reward. More details about Tesla’s updated bug bounty program can be accessed here.

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