Forty percent more power from the same size panel. Tandem PV's website makes that claim, and by the arithmetic in Undecided's video it holds, provided the panel you compare against turns 21.4 percent of its sunlight into electricity. Set the startup's own estimate for a full-size production panel, 28 percent, against a premium 25 percent silicon panel and the gain shrinks to about 12 percent. Neither figure is false. The baseline does the persuading, and every story in this edition turns on which baseline gets picked.
Home batteries make the point three ways in one day. Everyday Chris says his EcoFlow Titan Plus setup, 15 kWh across three batteries, came to about $10,000, against roughly $15,000 for one Tesla Powerwall 3, which he puts at 13.5 kWh. Measured by storage per dollar, that is about $670 a kilowatt hour against $1,100. The plug-in battery The Electric Viking covers looks better still: 18.8 kWh fully stacked for around US$7,000 by his conversion, under $400 a kilowatt hour, and he notes it out-stores a Powerwall 3 without an electrician. Switch the baseline from storage to power and the order flips. Chris puts the Powerwall's output at 11.5 kW. The plug-in unit feeds the house at 800 watts, so a full 18.8 kWh stack would take more than 23 hours to empty at that rate. For a renter keeping a fridge and a router alive through a blackout, that is fine. For anyone hoping to run an air conditioner, it is the wrong product.
Cars move the baseline in a different way, through time. Ever's Ioniq 6 review sets the car against two yardsticks. Against its own new price, close to $50,000 for the better trims by the host's account, it was a slow seller: 10,478 US sales in 2025, the video says, against 192,440 Model 3s. Against what $25,000 buys on a used lot today, the host calls it the best value EV in that bracket. Same car, opposite verdicts. At the Paris Motor Show, the reference point is shifting from the other end. Out of Spec Roaming counted more than 20 Chinese brands on the exhibitor list, and Tesla's small stand included a used Model 3 priced at €26,000. When a carmaker puts its own secondhand stock next to the concept cars, the new car stops being the only thing a buyer compares against.
What to watch: whether Tandem PV's full-size panel gets the independent measurement Trina says its 29.2 percent module already has. Whether EcoFlow widens the breaker compatibility its manual restricts, as read by the installers in Chris's video. Whether Australia follows the UK on plug-in batteries, since the video says this unit's 800 watt cap already matches the British rule. And how the ICCU warranty extension Ever describes holds up as these Ioniqs change hands a second time. The question for each is the one worth asking of any number: compared to what?
Tandem PV's 30.4 Percent Solar Claim Comes From a Coaster-Sized Module
California startup Tandem PV says its perovskite tandem module converted 30.4 percent of incoming sunlight into electricity. Ricky of Two Bit da Vinci, standing in for Matt Ferrell, unpacks the claim: the test piece measured 100 square centimetres, was tested in-house, and was still in third-party validation when it was announced in June. CEO Scott Wharton expects a full-size utility panel near 28 percent. Rather than growing perovskite on a silicon wafer, as the video says Trina and Qcells do, Tandem PV coats it onto the front glass and lays that over silicon cells bought from another maker, with each layer on its own circuit. In that four-terminal layout, the video explains, a failed top layer would leave the silicon making only about 9 points. On the same day, Trina announced a full-size 907 watt module at 29.2 percent, measured by TÜV SÜD, the company says. The video puts Tandem PV's target price at 40 cents a watt against a first-quarter US median of 28 cents, and Ricky calculates its planned 30-year warranty trails what mature silicon delivers. By the video's own example, the step from 22 to 28 percent adds about 110 watts to a 400 watt panel, so the premium makes most sense where roof space, not budget, is the limit.
The Ioniq 6 Sold Slowly New. Used, Ever Calls It the Value Pick Under $25,000.
Ever's review of Hyundai's electric sedan starts from the sales sheet and ends at the used lot. The host says 2023 and 2024 SEL and Limited cars with under 30,000 miles now sit between about $20,000 and $30,000, and advises skipping the SE trims, which he says save little and give up features. Rear-drive SEL and Limited cars use the 77.4 kWh pack, with 225 hp and 305 miles of EPA range; all-wheel drive brings 320 hp and 270 miles. On a 350 kW charger, the 800-volt system goes from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes, he says, while a Tesla V3 Supercharger holds it to about 100 kW and 30 to 35 minutes. The trade-offs he lists are an 11.2 cubic foot trunk against the Model 3's 21, dated infotainment and wired-only CarPlay. On the ICCU, a part the video describes as a known issue across Hyundai's eGMP cars, the host says Hyundai extended coverage to 15 years or 180,000 miles on affected units. The same part came up in a used Ioniq 5 ownership report in this site's September 30 edition. "Affected units" is the phrase that matters for a buyer: confirm with a Hyundai dealer that the specific car qualifies before treating the extension as part of the price.
Paris Motor Show: More Than 20 Chinese Brands, and a Used Tesla on the Stand
Out of Spec Roaming arrived at the Paris Motor Show at opening time and walked the halls for over an hour. The host counted at least 20 Chinese brands on the exhibitor list, several of them arriving or expanding in Europe. The host says Li Auto used the show to announce its European entry; the host believes the i6 will lead it, and the European-spec SUV on the stand listed 640 km of range in rear-drive form and 560 km with all-wheel drive. He says Changan's Avatr brand will launch in Norway before anywhere else in Europe, and that Denza will be the first BYD brand to get flash charging there. The European makers leaned toward smaller, cheaper cars: Renault's Twingo, which the host places near €20,000, the Skoda Epiq, VW's ID. Polo and its GTI version, and the electric Citroën 2CV concept this site covered from Electrifying on October 12. Tesla kept to a small stand with the Cybercab under a cover and a used Model 3 rear-drive offered at €26,000. The host notes plenty of hybrids too, and says he did not reach every stand.
EcoFlow's Titan Plus Undercuts a Powerwall, If Your Breakers Allow It
Everyday Chris had EcoFlow's Titan Plus professionally installed. The base unit starts at 5 kWh and expands to 30 kWh; Chris's three-battery setup totalled 15 kWh for about $10,000. The catch came from the manual. By the installers' reading, the system is not compatible with circuits protected by GFCI or arc-fault breakers, something Chris worried would rule out many homes. Their suggested workaround is a standard breaker with the ground-fault or arc-fault protection moved to the outlet, which is worth confirming against local code before buying. The panel backs up 10 circuits the owner chooses, and the installers say it will not use grid-tied solar during an outage. In Chris's test, cutting the grid kept the fridge, kitchen, bathrooms and garage door opener running. He says one battery covered about an hour and a half of this home's evening use, and that extra batteries add runtime but not continuous output. The install also turned up an overheating 50 amp outlet on wire the electricians say was rated for 40 amps, unrelated to EcoFlow, which they flagged for the homeowner. That is a good argument for having any home backup quote start with an inspection of the panel.
A Plug-In Battery Stacks to 18.8 kWh, but Feeds the House at 800 Watts
The Electric Viking relays an independent test of a plug-in home battery from Sigenergy, a brand he says holds about a quarter of Australia's home battery market. It went on sale in Germany in July and has not been announced elsewhere, he says. The base unit stores 2.7 kWh of LFP, is rated for 6,000 cycles with a 10-year warranty, weighs 29 kg and plugs into a wall socket. Six add-on batteries take it to 18.8 kWh, and it accepts up to eight solar panels. Two side outlets run through a blackout at up to 1,400 watts. The tester got about 2.5 kWh back of the 2.7 stored, around 80 percent overall once grid charging losses are counted, and the app could not yet link to a wholesale plan such as Amber. German pricing works out to about US$1,300 for the base unit and US$1,000 per extra battery, by his conversion. Output into the home is capped at 800 watts, which he says matches the UK rules introduced in August. He also says California just became the 10th US state to allow plug-in systems, while a CleanerWatt video this site covered on August 19 put the number of states with plug-in solar laws at twelve. The counts may differ by definition, so renters should check their own state's rule.
Bottom line: The best buy in this edition is the used Ioniq 6, because its comparison is the fairest one here: a known car, a published warranty and a price that has already absorbed the bad news. The EcoFlow is good value only in houses whose breakers it accepts, so get an electrician's survey before a quote. The plug-in battery is the right product for renters and the wrong one for anyone who needs real power. And Tandem PV's panel should be judged on its first independent full-size measurement, not on a coaster.
Commentary on third-party videos. Figures and claims are as presented in the sources and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.