A nice surprise for Australian home battery buyers hankering after a Powerwall – Tesla has announced another price reduction; and it’s not just a token amount.
After several significant price increases during 2022 that saw the cost of Powerwall skyrocket from $12,750 to $16,230, there was some initial good news in February this year when a reduction was announced – down to $14,599. But this still meant installing a Powerwall would be a really pricey exercise, especially when added to that are installation costs potentially running into thousands of dollars depending on the installation scenario.
It was hoped there would be further decreases in the not-too-distant future, but nothing is a sure thing where Elon Musk is involved. However, we’ve laid eyes on an email from Tesla to Australian installers indicating that due to ongoing improvements in the cost of goods, freight and logistics, as well as ongoing consistent supply, another price reduction would take effect from yesterday.
The new recommended retail price is $12,900, including GST (but not including installation). That’s a reduction of $1,699. Powerwall has dropped in price by $3,330 so far this year. It’s a significant chunk of change and while great news for battery buyers in the market now, it will kind of suck for those who have fairly recently had a Powerwall installed.
Powerwall Price History
Monitoring and recording Australian pricing movements on Powerwall has become a bit of a sport here at SolarQuotes – here’s what we’ve tracked:
- February 2017 (est.): $9,000
- February 2018: $9,600
- October 2018: $12,350
- July 2019: $11,700
- October 2020: $12,500
- February 2021: $13,300
- May 2021: $12,750
- March 2022: $13,700
- May 2022: $14,650
- October 2022: $16,230
- February 2023: $14,599
- April 2023: $12,900
Note the prices are for the battery and supporting hardware only.
As always when there’s a Powerwall price change, we’ve also updated our graph to plot it:
Some Real Competition
Powerwall’s popularity here in Australia among installers and users alike is such it’s basically become synonymous with home batteries.
In SolarQuotes’ 2023 Installers’ Choice Awards, Tesla triumphed with Powerwall voted as the best home battery overall for the third year in a row. It also took out third place in the “best value” (budget) category and was voted by installers as having the best after-sales support.
But good quality competition is growing and perhaps this has also played a role in Tesla’s latest price cut given how closely it followed the first. For example, Sungrow solar batteries are building a solid reputation here in Australia. SQ’s Anthony – who is an experienced solar and battery installer – stated last week:
“Sungrow has progressed out of that suspiciously good value bracket to become just plain good in my opinion.”
In this year’s SQ Installers’ Choice Awards, Sungrow won the best budget battery category, came second for best battery support and came third in the overall best battery category. I’m not suggesting Sungrow has a better battery; rather that the company is being noticed and in a mostly positive way – and perhaps Tesla have noticed that.
To see how Powerwall and Sungrow stack up against each other (and against other home energy storage solutions) on various specifications, check out the SolarQuotes home battery comparison table.
About Michael Bloch
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i am assuming that increased cell production is leading to these price drops.
Lithium prices dropping a lot too
The pricing on Tesla price drops is great, but doesn’t correlate with prices on offer from companies like AGL, which are quoting $13,552 including all the government and VPP discounts. This suggests they are charging over $4000 for installation. Is that typical?
Through the time Powerwall has been available has there also been technological improvements to capacity, output, efficiency etc? i.e. is the 2017 Powerwall the same as the 2023 model?
Would be interesting to see that graph adjusted for AUD/USD exchange rate
That’s interesting because I just received quotes from 3 recommended Solar Quotes businesses and the lowest quote for a Tesla Powerwall is $17,800 (installed). So if the new recommended retail price is $12,900, that means they must be charging me $4,900 for installation. Would that be a reasonable amount for installation – seems very high to me.
I have the same experience. What’s going on with installation prices? Mine should be a trivial install since it’s a new house and a new solar installation, switchboard, etc.
G’Day Rob. The most likely reason for theorise drop of PowerWalls is the switch to LFP batteries.
Note: I am a TSLA shareholder, Model Y owner (with LFP batteries) and a PowerWall2 owner with LCM batteries.
Does Solar Quotes or anyone else make available a summary table of government rebates, subsidies etc that apply to some or all home battery installations ?
I also second CaptJack’s question – is there information available about improved features and performance of the Tesla Powerwall – which has now been sold in Australia for at least six years ?
Here you go Peter: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/rebates-subsidies/
Powerwall specs are the same since the Gen 2 ‘Powerwall 2’ was launched.
The ‘Gen 3’ Powerwall will be much improved. Expect it to be cheaper, with a built-in solar inverter. So you’ll potentially save $2k on a solar inverter plus a cheaper battery. I’m told it won’t be called a Powerwall 3, just Powerwall. Things can change though. Especially with Tesla!
The new PowerWall is called the PowerWallPlus and has LFP (Lithium Ferrous/Iron Phosphate) batteries instead of LCM (Lithium Cobalt Manganese)
I’m afraid the Powerwall Plus isn’t available in Australia due to our connection rules. (Well, we may be getting it, but if so it has been nobbled down to conventional Powerwall 2 performance.) Waiting to see what new Powerwall we will get here.
Tell Elon Musk to stop playing Mickey Mouse with his customers.
He is a nutter by any standard.
As much as I believe Tesla may have one of the better battery options, I want nothing to do with Elon.
As much as I believe Tesla may have one of the best battery options, I want nothing to do with Elon.
A month later and quotes I am getting in the ACT show zero reflection of price drops. Can anyone tell me how to get the reduced prices?
Is it possible to buy the Powerwall direct from Tesla, and organise the install privately. That way you can avoid contractor mark up to some degree, and have more transparency with install costs.
As far as I’m aware, Tesla doesn’t sell to members of the public. My understanding is you have to be an electrician who has applied for and done the training to become a certified Tesla installer to get them to sell to you.