Mercedes-Benz To Follow Tesla With Its Own Home Batteries
Stephen Edelstein for Motor Authority: Tesla Motors may be the first automaker to try selling standalone battery packs for powering homes and businesses, but it may not be the only one for long. Mercedes-Benz could soon enter the energy storage business as well. A division of parent company Daimler has been testing battery packs that can power houses or store excess electricity from the grid, and plans to launch commercially in September, according to Australia's Motoring.Called ACCUmotive, this division was created in 2009 to develop lithium-ion batteries. Like Tesla before its recent announcement, the Daimler arm has been testing energy storage systems under the radar for some time. It recently built an energy storage array operated by German electricity joint venture Coulomb. The array consists of 96 lithium-ion modules that together boast a combined 500 kilowatt hours of storage capacity, which is used to stabilize the Saxony Kamenz power grid. There are plans to expand it to 3,000 kWh of capacity.
ACCUmotive has reportedly delivered more than 60,000 lithium-ion cells to customers—which may include Mercedes itself—and employs more than 250 people.
Comments (0)
This post does not have any comments. Be the first to leave a comment below.
Featured Product
OMG Roofing Products - PowerGrip Universal
Eliminate Solar Rack Ballast and Reduce Rooftop Material Handling. PowerGrip™ Universal (PGU) is a commercial roof mount system designed to secure solar racks and other equipment to any type of commercial roofing system. PGU provides a secure connection directly to the roof deck or structural members and is designed to reduce or eliminate ballast in solar racking systems, so there's less weight on the roof and less material handling. Made of heavy-duty cast aluminum, PGU units include a base ring which is secured through the roofing cover and into the structural roof deck, and a waterproof top plate.
