At an installed cost of about $7,000, itâs an appliance that makes very little financial sense for most people. Tesla lists the price of the battery at $3,500, but that does not include installation, or an additional piece of equipment called an inverter that is needed to connect the battery to the home.
Strong blacktop driveways are typically built using crushed angular gravel as a base. This gravel needs to be a minimum of 6 inches thick for light vehicle traffic such as cars. If you expect larger commercial trucks on your driveway, I would install a gravel base that is a minimum of 8 inches thick. The soil beneath the gravel must also be of good quality.
Once the site is ready, paving with asphalt follows. In many cases a 4-inch thickness may be adequate, but 5 or even 6 inches of full-depth asphalt will assure you of a stronger, stable driveway under a wider range of climate and loads. As an option, some contractors use 6 to 8 inches of compacted aggregate, or gravel, as a base for 3 inches of asphalt pavement. We recommend full-depth asphalt for driveways, says Kent Hansen, NAPA Director of Engineering. We calculate that asphalt can replace aggregate on a ratio of 1:3 in thickness. That is, 1 inch of asphalt pavement is equivalent to 3 inches of aggregate base.. However, an aggregate base still may be required to ensure a solid foundation for construction equipment on weaker subgrades.