Ukrainians are turning to Teslas to help power their homes and limit the impact of Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, a report in the Financial Times said.
One Ukrainian businessman who is repurposing Tesla batteries told the FT that one Tesla could be used to make up to 12 battery systems.
“An old Tesla, including the cost of delivery, will be nearly $10,000. And you can turn that into 12 batteries, and also sell the parts,” said Oleksandr Bentsa, who had for years been buying crashed Teslas from the US and refitting and reselling them in Ukraine.
The five-kilowatt-hour (kWh) systems his company makes produce enough energy to power the lights and electrical equipment in a standard apartment for 10 hours, the report said.
But Bentsa’s novel idea may have been trumped by that of his father, who has plugged his whole house into a Tesla parked in his yard, per the FT.
Its 100 kWh battery can run an entire house for a week, Bentsa said.
Bentsa told the outlet he was now expecting sales to boom as the winter months near.
Ukraine’s rolling blackouts are already causing major concern ahead of winter.
The Kyiv Independent reported that the CEO of the Ukrainian energy supplier Yasno, Serhiy Kovalenko, said in June that locals may face just six or seven hours of electricity a day in winter if the electricity deficit is 35%.
However, countries such as Moldova and Poland are searching for ways to help Ukraine increase its power supply, with the latter looking at a plan that would involve burning fuel in Poland and sending it to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this month, per Bloomberg.
“At least it will partially help Ukraine survive the winter,” Tusk said.
Ukraine’s blackouts have come as the result of Russia’s bombardment of the Ukrainian energy grid.
Russia ramped up its efforts to disrupt the energy network in spring in the hopes of breaking Ukraine’s will to fight on, aiming particularly for energy generation infrastructure.
Neil Holland, the head of the UK’s Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said earlier this month that Russian attacks since spring had resulted in a total electricity loss of over 9 GW.
In June, Russia launched a “massive” attack on Ukraine’s power grid in what the Ukrainian energy ministry said was the eighth major attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since March.
“We urgently need to close our skies or Ukraine faces a serious crisis this winter,” Maxim Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, a Ukrainian energy company, said following the attack, per the BBC. “My plea to allies is to help us defend our energy system and rebuild in time.”
Ukrainian officials, including the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have also pleaded with allies for increased air defense systems to help counter such attacks.
But Ukraine has also struck back at Russian energy sites, particularly targeting Russian oil refineries.
Earlier this year, the US urged Ukraine to halt such attacks amid concerns that they would cause a surge in oil prices and potentially provoke further action from Russia.
Ukraine, however, signaled that it would not stop such attacks, saying the refineries were legitimate military targets.
