One analyst claims to have a lot of intriguing details about the new product Tesla will announce
He didn't say what it will be, but most people are expecting a battery to power the home.
Global Equities analyst Trip Chowdry thinks it will be the battery, and he has a report filled with details on the battery based on talking to people he says have been using the battery.
He claims Tesla has been testing a battery to power a home in 230 homes, and he says he knows two people who have tested the batteries.
Before we go any further, a word on Chowdry. He is regarded by people in the Apple community as one of the worst analysts on Apple.
In 2009, he predicted the iPhone 3GS would not sell as well as the iPhone 3G because Palm was selling the Palm Pre. The 3GS sold better than the 3G, and Palm is out of business now.
In 2013, he said Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer were "destroying shareholder value" and he speculated that they would be replaced. What was really happening in 2013 was that Apple was going through a transition which set it up for its best ever performance at the end of 2014. Today, Tim Cook is being lauded as the best CEO in the world.
When Apple joined the Dow earlier this year, he said, "Joining Dow takes the shine off the Apple and makes it a rotten Apple. Companies in Dow have historically symbolized companies which are boring, have zero innovation, complacent and are inching closer to irrelevance by the day, which is definitely not what Apple is all about. Apple should just refuse to join the Dow Index."
In one way, he's right to say that Apple may not belong with the historical group that is in the Dow. But, it certainly doesn't make Apple "rotten".
When it comes to Apple, he's doing analysis. And clearly his analysis has been off. With this Tesla report, he's passing along what he's been told. This is less about analysis and more about reporting, so it could be more trustworthy.
Louis Bedigian at Benzinga got Chowdhry's Tesla note, and wrote up some of the highlights.
Here are the most interesting bits from Chowdhry's note, which cites an owner of Tesla's new home battery:
- "The Battery has to be installed 1.5 feet above the ground, and should have an open space of 1 ft on all sides."
- "The battery does not make any noise, does not need any maintenance, has no drippings."
- "The battery is about 3 ft tall and 2.5 ft wide and looks good."
- "His battery can be controlled from his iPhone, and has a web application also."
- "His Battery is set for the following: Charging from Solar, and when the battery is fully charged, energy is sent to the PG&E Grid for rebate on Electric bill."
- "Charging directly from the Outlet. He does it...He charges the battery at night at $0.11 and then at 3:00 PM sells it back to Grid at $0.43. He tells me he makes between $10 to $12 every month doing this."
- "Fully off Grid. His battery can be charged by a regular generator also."
- "He has not had any problems with the Battery System...and gets OTA Software updates almost a couple of times a month."