Status: October 18, 2021 12:47 p.m.
Energy suppliers face new competition: The electric car pioneer Tesla is entering the German electricity market. As of today, he has a nationwide green electricity tariff on offer – but only for Powerwall owners.
It was speculated for a long time, now it is official: Tesla is attacking the German electricity market. The e-car manufacturer is introducing the first nationwide electricity tariff together with the green electricity provider Octopus Energy. However, it only applies to customers who have a Tesla Powerwall and a solar system for the time being.
Tesla and Octopus want to pass their green electricity on to consumers at the purchase price. Customers only paid the direct energy and network costs as well as a monthly flat rate of three euros, Octopus announced. In addition, there is the basic fee of the respective network operator.
First of all, the regional offer
Octopus advertises to offer the cheapest green electricity tariff. Compared to the previously cheapest Octopus Energy tariff, customers could save around 90 euros per year when switching to the Tesla electricity tariff, according to the provider. The contract can be terminated on a monthly basis. There is also a price guarantee of two years, which protects against further price increases.
So far, Tesla and Octopus had only offered their special green electricity tariff in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. “We noticed there that there was interest,” said an Octopus spokeswoman tagesschau.de.
It is still unclear whether and when Tesla will also offer other customers a green electricity tariff. Experts trust Tesla to shake up the German electricity market in a similar way to the car business.
Already two million British customers
So far, the electric car pioneer has been active in the energy market in the USA, Australia and Great Britain. Together with Octopus, Tesla was able to attract a good two million British customers within four years. With the help of artificial intelligence, the two partners are offering flexible electricity tariffs there.
With the so-called Autobidder software, Tesla could push electricity prices further. This makes it possible to offer surplus electricity to private customers on the market. The home storage systems that Tesla sells and the batteries in the cars that are attached to the charging station could be combined into virtual power plants. The software is already in use in Australia. It is still being tested in Germany.
Experts have a lot of confidence in Tesla and Octopus
Klaus Kreutzer from the Federal Association of German Energy Brokers and Energy Consultants, grants Tesla and Octopus good chances of asserting themselves on the German electricity market. Both have not only great financial resources, but also have “a customer proximity that classic suppliers can only dream of”, he told the “Spiegel”. When a Tesla customer orders an e-car, you can not only sell him maintenance, service and insurance, but also set up a charging station at home – along with a Powerwall and electricity tariff. That would be a real competition to VW, Daimler, Vattenfall and Eon.
However, the citizens of Germany are considered to be grumpy about changing tariffs. SO only around 4.5 million customers changed their electricity tariff in 2019. 1.2 million of them did this as part of a move.