What's Up With Elon Musk's Solar City / Tesla Powerwalls?
They've got a release date, and it's extremely important that Musk gets this one right.
Elon Musk announced on Twitter that he will reveal a new collaborative project from SolarCity and Tesla, which are in the process of going through a contentious merger, during an event in the San Francisco Bay Area sometime on October 28.
Musk announced the release date on Thursday — it’s not the first time he has used the social platform to drum up attention for product announcements, but anything Solar City and Tesla right now is going to get a lot of interest.
Musk’s proposed merger of SolarCity and Tesla hasn’t been entirely smooth so far, and the Powerwalls are the most obvious representation of it. Musk isn’t just teasing a new product — a roof that collects solar energy and stores it using Tesla’s Powerwall battery — so much as he’s making a public show of how well the companies he co-founded would complement each other if they’re ever allowed to become one.
Musk has discussed this project before: It was originally revealed during a SolarCity investor call in August. There’s no denying that the product could be useful — a solar paneled roof storing clean energy in battery-walls sounds great — but it’s pretty important that Musk gets this project right given the tentative state of the merger.
Tesla is used to having to overcome naysayers. A similar everything-is-awesome message was made in February after its stock price fell. No matter what happens with the company, be it worried investors or a high-profile crash, the message is always one of positivity and distraction via new products.
So don’t worry about investor lawsuits delaying the SolarCity-Tesla merger. Just think about how cool it’ll be when Musk takes the stage over a month from now to reveal a solar-power roof-and-battery combo to the world.
