Moxion Power built the MP75 that Sunbelt still lists and rents; it ceased operating in 2024. This page tests whether PlugRig can put a 699 kWh unit into that gap at a rate that services the financing — and separates what has been quoted from what is estimated and what is still unknown.
Rates quoted by Sunbelt Rentals, Glendale (Film & TV, branch #1774), by telephone, September 2026; written quote pending. Purchase price is an estimate — no written quote from Coulomb. Debt service assumes $280,000 at 8% over five years, against a $280,000 CORE voucher that has not been confirmed eligible.
| Equipment — Coulomb eBESS699-540-01 (estimated) | $560,000 |
| CORE voucher | −$280,000 |
| Net capital required | $280,000 |
Purchase price is an estimate. Coulomb publishes no pricing and does not list this configuration publicly; a written quote is outstanding. Commercial containerised storage broadly runs $400–800/kWh installed, with mobile units at the upper end — $560,000 sits inside that band at roughly $800/kWh. Delivery, commissioning, insurance and transport equipment are not included above.
Debt service on $280,000, and the day rate required to cover it at different utilisation levels.
| Term on $280,000 at 8% | Monthly payment |
|---|---|
| 3 years | $8,775 |
| 5 years | $5,678 |
| 7 years | $4,363 |
| Utilisation | Rental days / month | Day rate to break even |
|---|---|---|
| 30% | 9 | $631 |
| 50% | 15 | $379 |
| 70% | 21 | $270 |
| 90% | 27 | $210 |
Debt service only. Excludes insurance, transport, maintenance, charging energy and any operator cost. Break-even on the business is higher than break-even on the loan.
Sunbelt Rentals, Glendale (Film & TV, branch #1774), by telephone, September 2026. Written quote to follow by email. These are entertainment-market rates, the highest segment; construction and general-industrial rates will be lower.
| Unit | Day | Week | $/kW/day | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 750 kW diesel | $5,829.63 | $12,367.27 | $7.77 | — |
| 500 kW diesel | $4,355.67 | $9,024.77 | $8.71 | 24,000 lb |
| Moxion MP75 — 75 kW / 600 kWh battery | $2,401.00 | $4,117.69 | $32.01 | 12,000 lb |
Sunbelt stocks and rents a mobile battery today — the Moxion MP75, catalogue item 1131175 — at $2,401/day. That is 55% of the 500 kW diesel’s day rate for 15% of its power: a 3.7× premium per kW, at half the weight. The demand and the sales channel are proven. Moxion ceased operating in 2024, so the supply behind that catalogue entry is gone.
| Moxion MP75 | eBESS699-540-01 | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 600 kWh | 699 kWh (+17%) |
| Peak output | 75 kW | 540 kW (7.2×) |
| Runtime at 75 kW basecamp draw | 8.00 h | 9.32 h |
| Runtime at full rated output | 8.00 h | 1.29 h |
For the film-basecamp duty the MP75 is rented for, the eBESS699 does the same job for longer and carries seven times the peak headroom. Its shorter runtime at full rating is only a limit on jobs that actually draw 540 kW continuously — which is not the duty the MP75 earns $2,401/day doing.
The 500 kW diesel is the nearest power class to the eBESS699’s 540 kW rating, so it is the comparison a buyer reaches for. Run honestly it does not favour the battery, and the reason is that the 540 kW rating is not the binding constraint — the 699 kWh is.
| 500 kW diesel | eBESS699-540-01 | |
|---|---|---|
| Rated output | 500 kW | 540 kW (+8%) |
| Runtime at rated output | unlimited, while fuelled | 1.40 h |
| Runtime at 50% load (250 kW) | unlimited | 2.80 h |
| Day rate (Sunbelt, Film & TV) | $4,355.67 | not quoted |
| Fuel, 10 h at 50% load | 185 gal = $1,010–$1,373 | n/a |
| Charge cost, 699 kWh | n/a | $84–$210 |
| Weight | 24,000 lb | unknown |
Fuel burn from the generatorsource.com consumption chart for a 500 kW set. Diesel price band $5.46/gal (EIA, U.S. No 2, Aug 2026) to $7.42/gal (AFDC, California, Apr 2026). Charge cost at $0.12–$0.30/kWh commercial.
At a 125 kW average the unit needs 1.79 charges to cover ten hours; at 250 kW it needs 3.58. One charge covers a 10-hour shift only below about 70 kW average draw (87 kW over eight hours, 58 kW over twelve). Marketing the 540 kW figure against a 500 kW genset invites a buyer to divide 699 by 500 and walk away.
A diesel generator is sized for the peak. The customer pays for 500 kW of availability all day, and burns fuel all day, while the average draw is far lower. The eBESS699 covers the same peak — 540 kW, 8% more — out of stored energy.
| Average draw | Energy over 10 h | Charges | Fits one charge? | Diesel fuel, same 10 h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 kW | 400 kWh | 0.57 | Yes | $192–$261 |
| 50 kW | 500 kWh | 0.72 | Yes | $240–$326 |
| 60 kW | 600 kWh | 0.86 | Yes | $288–$392 |
| 70 kW | 700 kWh | 1.00 | Marginal | $336–$457 |
| 100 kW | 1,000 kWh | 1.43 | No | $481–$653 |
The target job is therefore low average draw with high intermittent peaks: a site whose genset was specified for a compressor, hoist or lift that cycles, not for a continuous base load. On those jobs the eBESS replaces a 24,000 lb machine and its fuel logistics, and goes where diesel is not permitted at all.
Note the size of the fuel lever: at the loads where the battery can actually cover a shift, displaced fuel is only $200–$460/day. The pricing case rests on access, noise and emissions compliance, not on fuel savings.
| Basis | $/day | Revenue @ 15 days/mo | Cover on $5,678 debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| MP75 rack rate, like-for-like | $2,401 | $36,015 | 6.34× |
| MP75 $/kWh × 699 kWh | $2,797 | $41,957 | 7.39× |
| Wholesale at 40% of rack | $960 | $14,406 | 2.54× |
| Wholesale at 25% of rack | $600 | $9,004 | 1.59× |
Continuous placement at the MP75 week rate — the realistic case for an EV-depot bridge-power contract — is $4,117.69 × 52 ÷ 12 = $17,843/month, 3.14× debt service, or $145,984/year before operating cost.
Every figure above is Sunbelt’s rack rate — what they charge their customer. Renting into their fleet means receiving a fraction of it, and that fraction has not been quoted. The wholesale rows are illustrative, not offered.
A 750 kW diesel was separately quoted at $2,400/day, against $5,829.63 here — a 2.4× spread between sources. The written quote settles which applies.
Sunbelt Rentals held a multi-million-dollar mobile battery distribution agreement with Moxion Power; Moxion ceased operating in 2024, removing supply from the California market while the demand and the sales channel remained. Sunbelt also runs a dedicated Film & TV division. United Rentals and Herc Rentals (owner of Cinelease) sit behind them. Renting into an existing fleet trades rate for immediate utilisation and no sales or logistics burden.
Production services companies supplying power to Los Angeles shoots. Studio net-zero commitments push their vendors toward batteries, and a lost shooting day costs far more than the power.
California depots hold vehicles that arrived before their utility service did; interconnection commonly runs two to five years. Operators building this infrastructure in the Bay Area include WattEV (Port of Oakland), Forum Mobility, Terawatt Infrastructure, EV Realty and Zeem Solutions. Transit agencies and school districts with grant-funded electric buses face the same gap. These are multi-month placements rather than day rentals.
CARB's At-Berth Regulation creates compliance-driven shoreside demand at Oakland and Richmond. Construction is the steady base between higher-value placements. Planned power shutoffs create episodic demand at premium rates during fire season.
Each of these can invalidate part of the case above. None is resolved.
California's Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project, funded by CARB and administered by CALSTART.
CORE is a voucher programme, not a competitive grant. There is no proposal and no scoring panel. The equipment must be on CORE's published catalogue, and a CORE-approved dealer submits the voucher request on the purchaser's behalf. The eBESS699-540-01 is listed under Mobile Ground Power Units at a $280,000 voucher.
Across the twelve mobile ground power units catalogued, eleven pay within 1% of $400 per kWh. The twelfth — a 2.3 MWh unit — pays $300,000, which is the programme cap.
| Unit | kWh | Voucher | $/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cat XES120 | 128 | $51,000 | $399 |
| Ampd 400 | 430 | $172,000 | $400 |
| Coulomb eBESS528 | 528 | $210,000 | $398 |
| Coulomb eBESS699 | 699 | $280,000 | $400 |
| Coulomb 2.3 MWh | 2,300 | $300,000 | $130 |
The $300,000 cap binds at 750 kWh. At 699 kWh the eBESS699 is the largest unit on the catalogue still collecting the full rate — every kWh above 750 is unsubsidised.