Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity officially closed on Monday, bringing together Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company with the solar energy company founded by his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive. The deal was approved by Tesla and SolarCity shareholders last week, after first being proposed earlier this year. Tesla provided the following brief statement on the news:
"We’re pleased to announce that Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity closed this morning."
Succinct, and probably an understatement; Musk has been advocating for the union of the two companies vocally and frequently since proposing the idea in June. Joining the two entities is central to the continued execution of his “Master Plan,” which aims to provide customers with full-stack solutions for owning their own energy production, storage and consumption.
Tesla’s recent solar roof tile launch showed why Musk believes the companies are a natural fit. To Musk, there is not a demarcation point beyond clean generation of electric power and vehicles that make use of said power for emission-free operation. It makes sense, because the cleanliness and cost of the source is just as important as the cleanliness of operation when it comes to overall carbon footprint contribution.