Mercedes Benz with its parent company Daimler has revealed that it will be launching its own line of personal power packs for usage within homes and for small businesses before the year ends.
The batteries will be exclusively available in Germany initially, though Daimler has said that it is planning to gradually expand sales of the power packs to other countries in Europe as well as to the United States in the medium-term future.
Executives of Daimler, however, point out that the decision of the company to enter the market for home batteries is not a response to the unveiling of Tesla Motors' Powerwall, which were designed to allow users to become more self-sufficient in the energy used by their homes.
Daimler's version will be created by Accumotive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company which has been producing the lithium-ion battery systems that are found in the automobile company's hybrid and electric cars. Accumotive also just happens to be in the business of manufacturing high-capacity battery systems for large industrial and commercial applications, and has been in such a business since 2012.
The home batteries that Mercedes Benz and Daimler will release will share many similarities with the lithium-ion battery systems that can be found in its vehicles. The personal power packs will work just like the Powerwall of Tesla, charging themselves up during off-peak times of the day when the electricity rates are lower and then releasing the stored energy for use during peak times when electricity rates are higher.
Two or more of the batteries can be used if the user would require more energy, and customers that are looking to take advantage of the system even more can link it up to solar panels or wind turbines. The energy created by these power generating systems will then be stored in the batteries for later use.
The Powerwall of Tesla Motors received massive demand, as the battery system is currently sold out until at least the middle of next year. Reservations for the home-use Powerwall have reached 38,000 units, while that of the Powerpacks, which is the commercial-use version of the Powerwall, has sold 2,800 units.
Daimler is expecting a similar response once it begins selling the product in Germany. The plan is to initially offer the battery system to rich families that are looking to dive into renewable energy for their homes, small and medium sized companies that need a reliable backup source for power and islands where power sources are unstable.
No price has yet been revealed for Daimler's product, but first deliveries are expected by late summer or early fall.
