After years of building Australian-made battery systems, Vaulta is making a shift. Our off-the-shelf product line – designed, engineered and manufactured here, is moving to a made-to-order model.
It’s not because we’ve lost faith in what we’ve built. It’s because Australia’s support for manufacturing, despite all the headlines and slogans, still doesn’t show up where it counts: in procurement, in project specs, and in policy that actually drives local uptake.
We’ve done our part. We built here. Hired here. Invested in tech, machines, and people. We even re-earned our Australian Made certification, because we believe in the value of local capability. But we’re not going to keep tying up cash in inventory while waiting for a country to make up its mind about whether it really values Australian-made. We’re ready to scale local production again, but it’s not our job to fix Australia’s manufacturing industry alone.
But that’s just one side of the story.
The other side is about waste. Specifically, battery waste.
Vaulta was founded to eliminate it – and we still believe in that. But we’ve also come to realise this: we can’t solve battery waste by only using our own batteries. We need to work with imported products too, the ones we’ve tested, modified, reconfigured and can stand behind. The ones we trust.
That’s why we created Vaulta Select.
It’s a curated product line built around reliability, local support, and rebate eligibility. We hand-pick each product, put it through rigorous testing, and adapt it for real Australian conditions. That includes:
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100% rebate eligibility, with the full nominal capacity matching the usable
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Australian-based support and service, with real people and real stock
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A price point that meets demand for affordable home batteries
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Technical infrastructure and smarts that improve the broader battery ecosystem
The “Cheaper Home Batteries” program has accelerated demand - and that’s a good thing. But it’s also made the whole industry price-sensitive. The rebate is generous, but it puts cost front and centre, not capability. We’re now seeing more and more customers skip over what they need from a battery system and jump straight to how big the discount is.
We get that affordability matters. But batteries aren’t like other products. They're long-term infrastructure. They need to be safe, reliable and suitable for how you live or operate. That’s why we’re focused on a premium service delivery model and reliable systems that perform across a range of applications.
And here’s the thing: we’re not just importing and reselling gear. Every Vaulta Select product is backed by our in-house team – the same experts who work with Tier 1 companies on highly specialised battery systems. We’ve been inside more batteries than pretty well any reseller or installer in the country. So when we say we know the product, we really do.
That means real benefits for both the customer and the installer:
And while we’re adjusting our off-the-shelf approach, where we’re really excelling is in specialised battery systems. Batteries for government projects, or for large companies transitioning to renewables, require tailored solutions and clear guidance – and that’s where Vaulta delivers. We still see huge benefit in doing a lot of that design and system integration here in Australia, but we’re also giving our customers flexibility. In some cases, final assembly may take place offshore – if it helps meet their project needs, timelines, or budgets.
Look at the Approved Battery List – there are hundreds of systems on it. Most aren’t selling here. Most aren’t stocked locally. And most won’t help build the long-term capability we need. Vaulta Select fills that gap.
So, we’re not giving up on making things in Australia. We’re adjusting.
We’ll still design and build right here. But we’ll also support what works – wherever it’s made – if it helps reduce waste, lift standards, and get good batteries into Australian homes and businesses with the right support behind them.
And if the day comes where the country really gets serious about manufacturing? We’ll be ready.
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