Tesla Continues Support for Embattled Ukrainians
Tesla and SpaceX continue their support of the besieged Ukrainian people with more Starlink terminals and now shipments of Tesla’s Powerwall system and the cables and equipment to ensure functionality.
In an internal email obtained by CNBC, Tesla outlines its Ukraine operations revolving around Starlink and now Powerwall support.
Tesla’s Powerwall is a roughly 13kWh system designed to keep a single, standard residential home powered for about a day; especially when paired with the solar roof system. Obviously, this sort of link won’t be possible in an active warzone, but luckily the Powerwall can be rigged to operate in the field, and Tesla has made a video to show just how to do that.
In the support video, Tesla shows how to get the Powerwall system operational without needing to take it out of its box. The system can be started using a 12-volt power source (like a car battery) or even just 8 AA cells connected in series. And, while the 13kWh Powerwall should be more than enough to keep the low-power-updated Starlink running for days; the video also shows how to hook up the Powerwall to an inverter and a string of solar panels to keep the system charged.
But the internal email does more than just point to the rollout of Powerwall systems to Ukraine. The message also outlines the behind-the-scenes work Tesla and SpaceX have been doing.
It’s revealed that the newly approved GigaBerlin is being used as a staging ground, as Tesla employees and a group of volunteers work to put together the Powerwall kits and ship them to Ukraine.
“Volunteers across the Giga Berlin and Germany Service team responded quickly to test, configure, pack and ship several hundred Starlink units which have already been gratefully received by Ukraine’s Digital Transformation Minister. In true Tesla fashion, the solution has been put together in less than 3 days.” The email continues, “On top of this the Energy team supplemented the Starlink roll out with a fleet Powerwalls. The system included PV inverters given by our Certified installer network, pre-made DC cables given by one of our Supercharger Installation Partners and AC cables made out of scrap from Giga Berlin. All of it assembled by a team of 40+ volunteers from across the EMEA organization, committed to doing what they can to support.”
And if putting together Powerwall systems and supporting cables out of scrap wasn’t enough, the email details Tesla Supercharging stations have been made free in locations around the Ukraine border with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
As a last little bit of support, Tesla also mentioned that they would be continuing to pay any Ukrainian employee should they be conscripted to fight.
Finally, we also got details of how the whole Starlink rollout for Ukraine happened. According to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, the company had been working for a “month and a half or so” to expand the Europe service into Ukraine, but approval wasn’t given before Russian forces crossed the border.
“They tweeted at Elon and so we turned it on,” she said. “That was our permission. That was the letter from the minister. It was a tweet.”
And after that, all this extra support flew into the fevered pace we’ve seen in the last two weeks. And while Elon has been vocal about his Ukrainian support, it’s obviously not just him that feels this way. When asked why SpaceX would get involved in an active conflict, Shotwell spoke of upholding the universal need for the free flow of information.
“That was the right thing to do. I think the best way to uphold democracies is to make sure we all understand what the truth is.”