Great news for Tesla owners: the electric car manufacturer has announced that its customers who have purchased a Tesla vehicle and a Powerwall will be able to use the excess solar energy they generate at home to charge their cars.
The Powerwall is a proprietary rechargeable lithium-ion battery manufactured by Tesla that is used for home energy storage — in other words, a big battery that stores solar and other energy for backup use.
According to an update in the Tesla app's coding, the Powerall will also be compatible with the company's electric vehicles.
The update, originally described in the coding as a "Drive on Sunshine" and subsequently rebranded "Charge on Solar," explains that you can "set your vehicle's battery to charge as usual from any available sources for enough daily driving range. Then reserve part of your vehicle's battery to charge only when excess solar is available."
This is a big deal because it moves Tesla closer to the company's ultimate goal of having its cars run on 100% clean, renewable energy. Energy sources don't get much cleaner than solar, so allowing Tesla owners to use all of the energy they generate from their home solar arrays is a huge step.
The announcement comes on the heels of more good news for current and potential Tesla owners alike. The company recently cut the prices of two of its most expensive models in a burgeoning price war within the increasingly competitive electric vehicle industry.
In even more good Tesla-related news, the company also recently cut a deal with the government that will see the company open a portion of its charging stations, which were previously usable only by Tesla owners, to all-electric vehicles.
The more electric vehicles can replace traditional, dirty energy-powered cars, the better it is for everyone — and these changes certainly look to be steering us in that direction.
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