Who says Elon Musk gets to have all the in-home battery fun? Certainly not the folks over at Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler AG, as the typically auto-focused manufacturer announced this week it would soon be elbowing its way into the energy storage game. Though currently nameless, the upcoming battery unit will reportedly be developed by Daimler subsidiary Deutsche Accumotive and, fittingly, are only available in Germany at this time. However, the company says it intends to take its new device international but didn’t share exactly what that would look like should it pan out.
Under the hood, the Mercedes home battery packs an energy wallop, granting users the ability to combine all eight of its columnar 2.5kWh lithium-ion modules for ultimate capacity (i.e., 20kWh total capacity). The company says this level of capacity would allow users to gather excess solar energy, at little to no loss, for use at a later time. As of now, Daimler has partnered with solar technology and utility companies to sell and support its batteries while also pushing for the installation of solar panels to be used in conjunction with the device. Because of this unique install process, the exact price for the unit has yet to be officially announced.
No stranger to the field of storage units, Accumotive has manufactured similar devices (on an industrial level) for nearly two years. While creating the initial designs, the company fully intended the system to be scalable in order for smaller units to find their way into households should the tech prove reliable. And what about that reliability? If a recent $500 million investment into a second factory is any indication from Daimler, it appears Accumotive’s battery is headed in the right direction.
Though Tesla has certainly jump-started the market for in-home battery solutions, Daimler’s entrance into the industry shows just how much demand there actually is for such a device. As the installation of solar panels continues to rise nationwide, the need for a proper way to store all that energy is higher than ever and Daimler feels its scalable storage system is the answer.
