Now you can live in a 'Tesla town'; for the right price
You too can live in a suburb from the future. A new development in Australia is offering home owners a solar panel setup including Tesla's home battery, the Powerwall, as something a little extra.
The YarraBend development is currently in the works for Melbourne, Australia. The 16.5 hectare (40.8 acre) site will become a new suburb to the northeast of the city centre, developed by Glenvill and Alpha Partners.
On its site, it bills itself as the world's first "Tesla suburb."
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According to Fairfax Media, 60 homes in the development will have a standard inclusion of the Tesla Powerwall, inverters and solar panels. The green package won't come cheap, however. Homes will likely go for between A$1.48 million ($1.12 million) and A$2.1 million ($1.6 million).
Glenvill development director, Travers Nuttall told the publication the battery was more than just marketing. "We felt there was an opportunity to put a stamp on this site as being a really sustainable community," he said.
Australians were among the first in the world to get their hands on Tesla's home battery. Available since January, the battery stores excess energy generated by solar panels during the day, easing reliance on the electrical grid in the evenings when power costs are higher.
Chris Williams is managing director of Natural Solar, a company that installs the Tesla Powerwall. In his view, offering pre-installed home batteries is a point of difference for new developments, and one that is becoming increasingly popular.
"We're certainly seeing strong demand and inquiries across the board, and we're working on several projects of upwards of 200 homes," he told Mashable Australia.
With Natural Solar, installing a Powerwall and solar panels costs around A$13,590 ($10,325) including the goods and services tax. "Everyday we get closer to that magical A$10,000 ($7,597) mark," he added.
YarraBend is presenting itself as a luxury development, he said, and Tesla itself is a very luxurious brand. "It's synonymous with high quality," Williams said. Nevertheless, Natural Solar is fielding interest from regular households who can see a genuine return on investment from relying less on the grid.
Increasingly, homeowners are inquiring about the Powerwall at the pre-build stage, rather than installing one in an established home, he added.
"It's certainly a strong market and a growing market," Williams explained. "This is the tip of the iceberg and will become more or less commonplace going forward as a point of difference."
Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
