Mercedes-Benz’s alternative to Tesla’s battery: smaller, modular, just as clean

Tesla isn’t the only one building giant batteries. Mercedes-Benz has its own equivalent to the big home-centric battery that is Tesla Powerwall, but is adopting a slightly different tack.

Mercedes is creating smaller batteries, each of which holds 2.5kWh of electricity – but combine eight of them and you get 20kWh, or twice what a single Tesla Powerwall offers.

This modular approach makes it more versatile for different setups. Larger homes could install more packs, smaller homes less. The Mercedes battery packs will ship as soon as September and might be your best bet, considering Tesla’s model is sold out all the way through to mid-2016.

There’s no word as yet on the pricing of Mercedes’ batteries but with the Powerwall starting at around US$3,500, they’re likely to be in the same ball park.

[Source: Engadget]