Skip to content
tempatnakal.com

tempatnakal.com

GOP congressman powers his off-grid solar home with a Tesla battery

Holly Clancy, February 9, 2018

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is an MIT-trained engineer and libertarian who has been living off-grid with his family for over a decade and driving a Tesla Model S for five years.

On Sunday, he posted a YouTube video on his “DIY battery quest” to replace the 12-year-old lead-acid batteries with some new Tesla lithium batteries. As he explains, while living off-grid is expensive, the new batteries could cut his nighttime electricity costs in half, from $0.25 a kilowatt hour to $0.12 a kilowatt hour, which is close to the price of retail electricity.

But while Elon Musk makes his popular Powerwall battery for use with residential solar systems, Tesla doesn’t sell one for off-grid use. And Tesla won’t sell you Model S batteries by themselves.

Tesla Announces New Product To ‘Fundamentally Change The Way The World Uses Energy’

So, being an engineer, Massie decided to see if he could buy a wrecked Tesla vehicle, salvage the batteries, and then retool them for use in his home.

This 23-minute video documents what he calls a “pretty dag-gone exciting” do-it-yourself adventure, in which he travels to Georgia to buy a wrecked Tesla Model S for $15,000 and successfully uses its  lithium battery to replace the messy and high maintenance lead-acid batteries.

Massie was motivated by his strong libertarian streak, as he told the center-right website Rare.us Wednesday: “When you go off-the-grid, you have more choices for where to build your house. Land that wasn’t developable because of a lack of access to public utilities suddenly becomes viable by going off the grid. Plus homeowners won’t have to run wires across their neighbors’ land.”

But while Massie is not your typical partisan Republican — he won the first Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for inventiveness ever awarded — he doesn’t embrace climate science. He told Science magazine back in 2012, “Most of the public is still debating whether the earth is heating up. But I think the real question is by how much? I’m still looking for an answer I can hold onto.”

Massie added, “I honestly think that it’s an open question… I think the jury is still out on the contribution of our activities to the change in the earth’s climate.”

One fact about climate change that’s worth repeating

In fact, the overwhelming majority of climate scientists — over 97 percent — understand that humans are the primary cause of climate change, and that the best estimate is that humans are responsible for all recent warming. And they have known that for years.


Politics

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Categories

Archives

Recent Posts

  • Top 10 Best Under Trigger Fishing Reels Comparison

  • Top 10 Best Open Face Spin Cast Fishing Reels Comparison

  • XebiaLabs lands $100 million Series B led by Susquehanna Growth Equity and Accel

  • Best Jackets Brands for Men

  • Leather Jackets Men’s Crown

  • Infant Crib Shoes Size 0

  • Top 10 Best What Is A Vegetable Trivets? Comparison

  • Slim Fit Jean Jackets Men

  • Camo Jackets for Men

  • Top 10 Best Remove Rows In R Comparison

  • Top 10 Best Can Only Compare Identically-labeled Series Objects Comparison

  • Alpha Jacket Mens Parka

  • Men’s Winter Military Army Pilot Bomber Jackets

  • Cheap Sweaters Vest Men

  • Corduroy Shirt Jacket

  • What Color Should Your First Suit Be?

  • Top 10 Best Bass Pro Fishing Lines Comparison

  • Top 10 Best 10000 Fishing Reels Comparison

  • Shelf Sale

  • Champion Big C Sweatshirt

  • Sweater Men’s Yellow

  • Men Long Jean Jackets

  • Top 10 Best Wii Fishing Reel Comparison

  • Top 10 Best Fishing Reel Riverhawk Comparison

  • Plaid Sweater Vest Men’s

  • Top 10 Best Penn Fishing Reel Cover Comparison

  • Top 10 Best Phlueger President Fishing Reels Comparison

  • Why Vaporizers Are Better Than Humidifiers

  • Top 10 Best Shakespeare Durango Spinning Fishing Reel Comparison

  • How To Find Truly Valuable Restaurant Guides

©2025 tempatnakal.com | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes