Jason Badeaux

Since 2017, Tesla’s capital expenditure per incremental unit of capacity has improved from ~$84,000, when the Model 3 was ramping, to ~$7,700. While these improvements indicate that Tesla could continue to increase margins, the more important takeaway is that capital no longer is a bottleneck limiting its growth. Instead, Tesla should be able to... See more

Our research suggests that travelers in western markets place a value on their work-related travel miles close to their hourly wage, and value their non-work-related travel miles at close to half their hourly wage. In low income countries and at $0.50 per mile, we assume another long tail of demand priced similarly to today’s ride-hail options.... See more

Resiliency is DERs killer app. I’d like to do a study of how much search traffic from users asking “how can I install a battery in my house?” spikes after wildfires in CA, hurricanes in NY, or big freezes in Texas once again knock out the power grid. This is a now universal problem and overtime, resiliency benefits will lead to more and more users... See more

If you can have a net-zero economy, then there's no more need to conserve.

With the right mechanisms in place, DERs will create a flexible grid by helping supply meet demand in a dynamic system. This represents a very exciting opportunity for electrification, with several software companies already developing solutions to make electricity demand digital and efficient.

Just imagine: what could humanity do with 2-3x the amount of electricity on today’s grid (what Seba calls “SuperPower”)? How about 10x? 100x?

This is a very new technology. It could be decades before it is developed enough to be put into a car. The high levels of cobalt could also be a huge issue. Not only is cobalt more than twice as expensive as any other battery metal, but its mining is environmentally and humanely dubious. Many companies, including Tesla, want to have cobalt-free... See more

The convergence of artificial intelligence and battery technologies within the mobility space could disrupt transportation completely, radically reducing costs and benefiting consumers.