Tesla driver reveals 94 per cent electricity bill savings in major win for EV owners: ‘No brainer’

An Aussie Tesla owner says he is saving 94 per cent off his electricity bill after installing the electric vehicle giant’s Powerwall system. He says he is using the home batteries, along with solar panels, to power both his home and business.

Nathan Merritt runs a rideshare business out of Brisbane and owns multiple Teslas, including a Model 3. He told Yahoo Finance he decided to make the switch to electric vehicles (EV) more than three years ago.

“I swapped to an EV purely for the benefit of saving on services [and] fuel, plus to feel green. It’s a no brainer,” Merritt said.

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Since installing two Powerwalls in April this year, Merritt claims to have seen a 94 per cent reduction in grid usage, along with lower power bills.

“This figure is based from past energy consumption figures prior to having the system installed,” he explained.

The batteries store energy from renewable sources, such as solar power, which households can then bank to charge appliances and their EVs without drawing from the electricity grid.

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“The main pro on our system now is that we are less dependent on the energy grid, we won’t have blackouts,” Merritt said.

“Having batteries now means we can soak up the majority of solar energy to use at a later stage.”

Merritt said this also means he can avoid low feed-in tariffs.

How much do the batteries cost?

It costs roughly around $15,000 to install a single battery, Merritt said, but this could vary depending on how complex the installation was.

He also noted there are various home battery rebates available from state governments, while Tesla offers a 10-year warranty on the batteries.

For example, NSW currently offers incentives of between $1,600 and $2,400 off the upfront installation costs of a battery for homes with existing solar.

Queensland previously offered rebates of up to $4,000 for households who installed a home battery system but this has since ended.

There are also various rebates of up to $6,000 and other incentives like free registration and stamp duty concessions for Aussies who buy EVs.

EV prices plummet

It comes as more Aussies make the transition to EVs, with purchases more than doubling in 2023 compared to 2022.

Competition in the Aussie EV market has also been heating up with prices on some models plummeting by as much as $20,000.

Last month, the Nissan Leaf went from $50,990 to $39,990, the Polestar 2 2024 Long Range Single Motor from $71,400 to $58,990, while the Tesla Model Y dropped from $72,000 to $55,000.

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