This can be changed easily. Most Zoe owners lease their batteries from Renault and it might possible to set up a deal to share the revenues generated from the batteries.
>This doesn't make any of the major car manufacturers "power companies". Is the statement coming from Musk/Tesla or is it Reuters' interpretation?
Tesla has been working on that for years: https://gulfnews.com/business/energy/tesla-executive-hints-v...
More details in this well-researched video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPIpOB9dya8 (this channel is excellent BTW)
Would this change the fact that they just manufacture the "vessel" not the contents, or distribute the contents from the source? I see this more as "democratizing power", giving people more flexibility, and indeed maybe even changing the way we use the grid. But it certainly wouldn't put Tesla in the same segment as companies like PG&E or TEPCO.
Hard drive manufacturers are never considered "content companies" regardless of how they sell or lease the drives, and what content they store. And Toyota or VW are not considered oil companies even if their cars probably move more gas than many small ones.
They would not be competing with PG&E (which has monopoly on power grid) but with companies that generate energy to PG&E e.g. the companies that burn coal or run gas peakers.
Currently Tesla mostly sells batteries to such companies and they in turn make money selling energy to PG&E (for example PG&E instead of buying energy from a company using gas peakers to generate it, they would buy it from company that "cached" energy in a battery and is selling it to PG&E during peaks).
It's a natural progression for Tesla to become such company themselves as they make the most costly part of running such business (i.e. battery).
It'll take several years (there's regulation around this stuff and Tesla needs to learn the new business) but that's where they are heading.
Is this an apples to apples comparison? Power generation, distribution, and storage are quite different aspects. And then there's also the fact that Tesla would manufacture the batteries but not own them.
The battery is analogous to a fuel tank. When not used to power the car both can be used as an energy buffer as any car could be used as a source of electricity. This doesn't make any of the major car manufacturers "power companies". Is the statement coming from Musk/Tesla or is it Reuters' interpretation?