I was car shopping this weekend and was blown away by the tech features that are available in even moderately priced cars. Adaptive cruise with lane assist, blind spot monitoring, backup cameras, navigation and even reverse automatic breaking. Even base models had quiet smooth rides.
When I bought my last new car 10 years ago, this was only the stuff of luxury brands. So that got me to thinking, what luxury commodities will become affordable in the next 10 years?
Whole house backup battery systems. Whether it’s a self contained unit or a control unit to diy such a set up with a collection of second hand batteries, these seem to be coming down in cost per kWh over time.
Trouble is, owning a home to install such a system is getting less and less affordable. Renter friendly units may be the way backup power becomes affordable.
Also, I think large backup generators will be sold relatively cheap by people who bought a battery pack and home solar.
I think the price will come down rapidly as lithium ion batteries get swapped out of EVs. Usually they’re still plenty usable, just not energy dense enough for a car anymore. Honestly, I hope that becomes how we “dispose” of used batteries in the future, or at least part of a longer chain.
That’s right! I do hope it’s the default second use for ev batteries.