A few days ago, Tesla announced to the world their latest electric vehicles, which would both revolutionise the industry. The first from these was the Semi, a heavy-duty, all-electric truck – a project led by Jerome Guillen, Tesla’s former Model S Program Director and VP of Vehicle Engineering. The second announcement at the event in Hawthorne, California was the impressive Roadster 2, an electric sportcar with some serious muscle – it has a range of 620 miles, 0-60mph in 1.9 seconds (would be the fastest for a production car), and quarter mile in under 9 seconds. But, with most of the attention on these two breakthrough announcements, the company also launched another product that didn’t make the cut for onstage hooha, a powerbank.
Strange as it may be, such items have become popular among fans, as their previously launched Supercharger was sold out on numerous occasions since its launch. The new powerbank includes USB, microUSB and Apple lightning connections, allowing it to charge your Android and iPhone devices accordingly. A short while back, Tesla launched its Gigafactory, which sole aim is to develop and create new batteries, including those used for your home, like the Powerwall.
The new powerbank uses a single 18650 cell, which has a 3,350mAh battery capacity, the same type found on the Model S and X electric cars. The unit has a price of $45, which is roughly the going rate for many quality powerbanks of similar capacity, although you don’t get the allure of it being Tesla branded. The device has already been sold out on two occasions via the official site, which isn’t surprising. While the previous Supercharger resembled the Tesla charging station used for their cars, the Powerbank look slightly different, although still very much Tesla in design.
On a side note: Surprisingly, Tesla’s website allows you to reserve the Roadster 2 even in South Africa, although there’s no mention of the import duties or shipping price. I’d hate to have to drop a $50,000 deposit and not know if I’ll be receiving my purchase – if I had $50,000 (or the $200,000 for full price) lying around that is.
