Entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted out a mysterious statement in March, claiming that a "major new Tesla product line -- not a car -- will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio on Thurs 8pm, April 30." It wasn't until Tuesday that electric car fans found out that this product line will include brand new batteries.
Buzzfeed obtained some inside knowledge from Jeff Evanson, vice president of investor relations at Tesla, revealing the planned unveiling of two different batteries for next week. "We have decided to share a bit about what we will announce on the 30th," Evanson wrote in a email to investors. "We will introduce the Tesla home battery and a very large utility scale battery. We will explain the advantages of our solutions and why past battery options were not compelling."
Tesla, however, was not willing to comment on the new batteries, with one spokesperson only saying that the company will provide more information about them next week.
Engadget noted that "there's a good chance that the hardware will build on the concepts behind existing home batteries, which are often used to store excess solar power and provide backups during outages."
This isn't the first time that Musk has explored the potential of a battery in the past. The Verge noted that he "already telegraphed plans to debut home batteries during a Tesla quarterly earnings call in February, saying the design was already finished and that production was going to begin 'In about six months, or so,' adding that it was 'really great,' and that he was 'really excited about it.'"
