14. Tesla Powerwall
Is 2016 the year that we all get our hands on the Tesla Powerwall home battery and start solar powering our futuristic off-grid lives?
Well frankly no.
But not just because we don’t all have a cool $3,000 to spend, but also because they’ve already had enough pre-orders to sell out for the first six months of 2016 (38,000 and counting). So, if you didn’t get in there quick enough, I’m afraid you eco-warriors are just going to have to wait.
Despite reports debunking the financial benefit claims (its unlikely you’ll be making that investment back in saved electricity bills any time soon) the Powerwall isn’t losing its appeal. Affluent early adopters are jumping on board because of Tesla’s product design credentials and compelling vision for the future.
Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Powerwall, has stated that the batteries could disrupt the energy industry in the same way mobile technologies disrupted the telecommunications industry. But for that to happen he clearly has to work on the pricing model.
He also wants the Powerwall to help some of the 1.3 billion people without access to electricity leapfrog the grid. “This is gonna be a great solution for people in remote parts of the world where there’s no electricity wires or where the electricity is extremely intermittent or extremely expensive."
It goes without saying that Elon has high global ambitions for Tesla, and with corporate clients such as Wal-Mart installing the commercial option (the scalable ‘Powerpack’) and cheaper alternatives coming into the domestic market, we’re betting that this tech is going mainstream – and so far, Tesla is the brand to beat.