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Economical challenges for Tesla: Analyst

A charging station at the company's booth during the 2014 North American International Auto Show Detroit.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Tesla announced that it will unveil a new stationary storage battery, which could be used on both the residential and business sides, on Thursday at 8 p.m. PT. In a press release, Tesla referred to the new product as "the missing piece to building a sustainable future."

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The stock price of Tesla closed at $226.05, up about 8 percent over one year, but trading was down during and after hours.

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Expectations are pretty high said UBS' Colin Langan. Yet, Tesla will have to overcome the economical challenges facing the new product.

"I think on the residential side, you are going to be talking more about a very niche application," said Langan during CNBC's "Closing Bell." "It probably isn't going to be very cost effective on the residential side."

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Tesla might have more luck on the utility side.

One of the main advantages of the stationary storage battery will be lithium. A lithium battery will be lighter. Yet, that isn't significant enough.

"I just don't see the value of that in stationary products," said the CEO of Vilas Capital, John Thompson, during "Closing Bell." "It just doesn't seem to be something that is consistent with its cost disadvantages versus more traditional battery technologies."

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"Tesla, we think, is a classic example of people becoming too excited about a fast-growing company and overpricing the stock by a huge margin," said Thompson.

Langan also added that he was cautious on the long run.

"We are neutral on the stock and a lot of that is because there is going to be a lot of challenges, obviously on the car side," Langan said. "Getting battery cost down is key, but on the stationary storage side there is a lot of questions about which chemistry will dominate long term. It might not be lithium."