When Tesla unveiled the production version of the Cybertruck late in the year, the automaker finally confirmed it was its first bi-directional charging-capable vehicle.
The feature allows Cybertruck owners to use the battery pack in trucks for more than just driving the vehicle. They can power virtually anything from the outlets in the bed of the vehicle, even another electric vehicle.
But through Tesla’s new Powershare product, Tesla Cybertruck owners can also power their homes in case of an outage.
The company previously said that Powerwall owners already have the required hardware to use the feature, and if not, you can use Tesla’s Universal Wall Connector ($595) and a Gateway ($1,800). Thought the automaker also unveiled a new ‘Powershare Mobile Connector’.
For Cybertruck Foundation series buyers, Tesla offers this hardware for free and for Cyberbeast Foundation series buyers, the automaker offers $4,000 toward installation, but we warned it could be much more expensive.
However, we didn’t expect it to be about 10 times more expensive, but that’s exactly what a Cybertruck owner was quoted.
It’s unclear why you would need to increase the power input into your house to get backup power? Couldn’t you just backup what you already have?
Tegtmeyer was surprised by the quote as he recently had electrical upgrades for his home solar panel installation:
I had thought Powershare might be a viable option for me, especially since I already had a huge solar panel system & all related electrical upgrades including a completely new main circuit-breaker panel & new heavy-duty wiring included as part of my solar system installation. I had thought this would make the Powershare installation easier, but apparently, that is not the case.
A quote like that will certainly change your plans.
The easy solution is to get another quote, but that can be difficult as you have to go through a Tesla-approved installer and not many have been approved for Powershare yet.
Electrek’s Take
Now, this could be an isolated case, but I feel like it won’t be. It reminds me of the early days of Powerwall when buyers were being given crazy installation quotes when Tesla started working with third parties.
The whole idea of Powershare and bidirectional charging is that it is a cheaper way to get backup power because you already have the battery in your vehicle. The electrical hardware and installation cost are the difference makers.
It looks like Tesla has the hardware under control, but it might need to control the installation cost by working with installers.
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