The Blockchain is an internet based technology that is set to change money, business and the World as we know it forever! The protocol forming the basis behind the systems architecture and operation of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies is designed to enable peer to peer transactions without the need for a trusted third party ‘intermediary’. This technology can be applied in various sectors including Banking and Finance, Real Estate, Telecommunications, Law, Governance (voting) among other sectors.
What is Blockchain?
The Blockchain is not just a protocol to run Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and is a robust and a multi-dimensional platform which can be utilized in a very wide variety of disciplines and is set to disrupt at least 19 Industries. The video below evaluates these industries and how they will be disrupted:
Blockchain will disrupt the ‘status quo’ in many sectors shifting power from institutions to people
The financial services sector typically makes up a significant proportion of any countries economy which includes banks, investment firms, and insurance companies. According to Investopedia the market estimates believe that by 2022, the financial services market is expected to reach $26.5 trillion, growing at a rate of 6% during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is the largest financial sector globally, followed by North America. The video below analyses how this sector will be disrupted by new blockchain technologies and fintech!
For emerging economies particularly those with a high proportion of unbanked populations especially in Africa, blockchain technology presents a significant opportunity to accelerate financial inclusion. The free movement of funds within this economies will help to uplift the lives of many citizens in impoverished nations enabling them to start to engage and move up in the hierarchy of needs.
The remittance market which is a $600bn-plus business globally is currently dominated by money transfer companies like Western Union and Moneygram and commercial banks among others who take days to fulfill transfers and also charge exorbitant transactional/commission fees are prime targets of this transformational technology. Through the blockchain users will be able send money to anyone in the world without the need for these intermediaries putting most of the above quoted money back in the pockets of the senders and receivers of the remittances with near real time delivery.
Emerging technologies are enabling people and communities to become self-sufficient and according to think tank RethinkX the disruption of five key sectors is imminent in Information, Energy, Food, Transport and Materials. This think tank predicts that emerging technologies will reduce the cost currently associated with these sectors at least 10X by 2030.
Tesla’s vision of a modern home powered by solar roof tiles with Powerwall storage completely “off grid’!
For this post we will focus on solar and the advances being made in battery technology developed to store this abundant source of energy. With solar energy being freely available from the sun it is expected that the cost of solar technology will significantly decrease from the current relatively high levels when compared to existing electricity powered by fossil fuel based systems.
What is solar energy?
In simple terms solar energy is ’radiant energy from the sun’. The diagram below illustrates how this energy can be captured and be utilized to power a homes needs, with any excess capacity being sold back to the utility grid!
How radiant energy is converted into direct current and used within a home or where excess capacity can be sold into utility grid!
In 2016 Tesla Motors Corporation acquired Solar City for $2,6bn, a company founded in 2006 by Peter and Lyndon Rive (cousins of Elon Musk). In addition to Tesla and Spacex, Musk was also Chairman of Solar City as he sort to advance the agenda to create energy storage capacity for both Tesla vehicles and for homes. He had previously encouraged his cousins to establish the company as a key area of disruption in the energy sector. Musk’s vision is to accelerate transition of the world towards sustainable energy.
Solar City based in San Mateo, California is now a division of the merged entity renamed Tesla Corporation and it specializes in solar energy services including residential battery backup services that incorporates Tesla’s Powerwall 3, with a capacity to store 14 kWH of which 13,5 kWh is usable. The typical amount of power needed in an average house for normal consumption is 9.2 kW or 9200 watts as you typically do not use all the appliances in the house at once, according to Energuide.
The Powerwall and Powerpack are rechargeable Lithium-ion battery and stationery products manufactured by Tesla. This system is guaranteed for 10 years and is a game changer in this category, providing peace of mind for users particularly in places with unreliable utility electricity supply. The upfront cost is currently high but the savings post the initial investment are huge.
The latest version, the Powerwall 3 currently costs $6 500, with the supporting hardware costing $1 100, and installation costs between $2 000-$3 000. The total installed value ranges between $9 600 – $10 600.
SunPower Energy Installation by Milholland Electric in San Diego Orange County
Solar roofs and solar panels
Tesla is offering various solutions in this category for its US customers where users can install solar panels on an existing roof or complete solar roof tiles. This is an exciting and revolutionary innovation which is going to completely change how communities power generation needs are met. The video below gives a great overview on the costs, benefits and how transformational the solar roofs are.
In conclusion, the developments in this space hold significant promise, particularly in the cost to acquire solar power for energy consumers. Tesla is focused on driving down the costs of solar products and batteries as improvements are made to the technology.
For Africa which generally gets plenty of sunshine it seems only logical that Tesla would set up manufacturing facilities there to produce these products especially since 30% of global supply of the primary raw material used to manufacture the batteries is sourced from Africa. Cobalt is found in abundance in Namibia and Zimbabwe making these two countries ideal locations for a Gigafactory.
Tesla is a pioneer in the high performance modern fully electric vehicle market, and just ten years into its existence is ready to significantly scale globally. Tesla has been building up its manufacturing capacity and rolled out gigafactories (plants where they manufacture their electric batteries and vehicles) in America, Europe, and significantly in the large and burgeoning Chinese market, and these plants are almost completely automated with robots on the vehicle assembly line. Humans are also still present on the line playing, but just to complete certain minor activities (quality checks) that the robots can not complete.
Tesla is set to disrupt two huge industries that were established since the first industrial revolution with the advent of the internal combustion engine (ICE), which is fueled by the very large oil and gas industry. The second key element is the source of energy used to power Tesla batteries which is solar energy.
Wide scale charging infrastructure has been developed all across the US, Europe, China and other territories where Tesla operates. The model s vehicle can get a half charge using a super charger in under 25 minutes, and 1 hour for a full charge. On a full charge a Model S Long Range can travel a distance of 379 miles (or approx 609 kilometers for those using the metric system), before needing to recharge.
Tesla is positioning itself to completely disrupt the Oil & Gas and electricity power generation industries. These are two huge industries whose basis for existence is the burning of fossil fuels. Tesla’s main purpose for existing is to lead the complete eradication of fossil fuel powered industries. This will consequently significantly reduce the globes greenhouse gas emissions and the ongoing depletion of the ozone layer.
The Tesla proudly displays its zero emissions status in the images above at one of its Boston Dealerships. The founder of the blog, Lindani Mabuza got to get a feel for this computer on wheels in Boston in 2017. The model displayed is the Model-S Long Range which is in the BMW 5 series and Mercedes E-class range, retailing from $79 000 up to $124 000 for the 2020 model.
The onboard computer receives regular software updates remotely as users would typically receive software updates for a smartphone. The vehicle also has a mobile application on which drivers can perform various functions such as use Media, Software updates, Climate control, Charging, Location and get this you can Summon your car as illustrated on the below iPhone screen shots within the Tesla app:
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The Model-S has two compartments in the front and back for stowing luggage as there is no engine under the hood in front. The wheels are powered by two motors in the front and rear axles and the lithium ion battery is very heavy and lies flat on the under belly of the car in between the two axles, giving the vehicle a low center of gravity improving its safety and handling or cornering ability.
The interior of the Model-S is very high-tech with a large touch-screen to control the vehicles functions with most functions being computerized. This vehicle is amazing and at the time of writing it was still the fastest production vehicle which can do 0-60 mph (0 – 100km/h) in 2.4 seconds according to Tesla. This is quicker than the top end high performance Porsche, Mercedes or BMW ICE models as demonstrated in the drag race in the video below. Only the Lamborghini Aventador was quicker over the quarter mile (400m), in a different test by Carwow in the ICE super car range, however the Tesla is always quickest out of the starting blocks (first 100m). The new Porsche Taychan (the all-electric response from Porsche which retails from $125 000, is a worthy opponent in the speed and luxury stakes as well.
Tesla has various models in its line up targeting the various income levels and the launch of the Model 3 which retails from $35 000 upward and is set to take on the mid-range BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-class. This will change the vehicle market for ever as it will drive wider-scale adoption of the brand. Tesla may even produce a new hatch-back vehicle which will cost even less than the Model 3 from $25 000 to further entrench itself in the lower-end of the market.
The Tesla stock recently surpassed the $1000 a share mark for the first time and with a $225 billion market capitalization has past the worlds largest vehicle manufacturer Toyota as the largest manufacturer by market cap. As Tesla continues to build up its capacity, it appears as thought it will be very difficult for competitors to catch up in terms of battery technology and all the data they have built up from 10 years of operating these vehicles to continue to improve their already superior machines in all vehicle classes.
In Africa we eagerly anticipate the date when these vehicles will become available on the continent as at the time of writing there are no plans that have been publicized by Tesla for the launch of the vehicle in Elon Musk’s continent of birth.
Africa is home to approximately 30% of the world’s lithium mineral reserves, which is mined as raw material for the lithium ion batteries. Zimbabwe and Namibia and Democratic Republic of Congo are among the top 10 countries for global lithium production. There is a strong case for the development of a Gigafactory at the source, to get Africa out of this resource exporting trap and enable Africa to assume her place in the global battery race.
In the next post we will take a closer look at how Tesla is building out their solar strategy to power a homes energy requirements which will enable complete neighborhoods to get of the electricity power grid and be self-sustaining by storing solar energy on the Tesla Powerwall.
