Just days after Elon Musk met with Puerto Rico's governor after the island territory was lashed by two consecutive hurricanes that all but sent the region's power grid to oblivion, Tesla has already begun shipping Powerpack 2 batteries to assist in re-establishing power supply in the region.
Tesla has already sent in a few hundred Powerwalls to help get basic utilities back online, but the Powerpack is meant to be used for an overall reconstruction of Puerto Rico's power grid, with Elon Musk pushing to have it built more resilient, with a special focus on solar power.
As things stand now, less than 20% of Puerto Rico has access to stable power supply, with some regions facing months of blackouts. Musk has said that Tesla will first aim to get hospitals and medical centres up and running, with the long-term goal being to restore and rebuild the Puerto Rico grid in its entirety.
Published 16 October 2017, 07:07 IST