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Solar Wrap
While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised for years to add a solar roof to the Cybertruck, the company has yet to actually offer such an option.
In 2019, the year the brutalist pickup was first announced, Musk claimed that solar cells covering the truck’s bed could add 15 miles of range per day. Extendable “fold out wings” could add even more, he said.
But the concept appears to have been lost to time or the reality of engineering. Fortunately, as convention-goers spotted at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, a company called Sunflare is trying to turn the idea of an at least partially solar-powered Cybertruck into a reality.
The company’s Solar Car Film makes use of copper indium gallium selenide solar cells (CIGS) to effectively wrap the entire Cybertruck with power-generating panels. YouTubers behind the channel “Electric Revolution,” were told that the option will cost $10,000, including a 5 kW battery inverter.
How much range such a wrap will add to the car’s battery is unclear. Under ideal conditions, they might add anywhere from 12 to 18 miles of range per day, according to Torque News‘ back-of-the-envelope (and likely generous) calculations.
That’s not immense, but the wrap — if it turns out to be an actual product and not just vaporware — could come in handy in a variety of scenarios, such as off-the-grid camping.
Trickle Charge
Other roof-based solar charging solutions, such as the panels installed on the roof of Toya’s Prius Prime, offer only a handful of miles of range per day, and that’s only if the car is in the full sun for hours at a time.
The California-based Sunflare has also been developing off-grid power solutions for campers and camper vans.
But whether its solar wrap will manage to turn the Cybertruck into an energy-efficient long-range EV remains dubious. The 6,600-pound stainless steel monstrosity has a below-average real-world range of around 230 miles on a single charge, putting it well below the competition.
Though the concept is elegant, adding a handful of miles with the help of a solar panel isn’t going to flip that equation on its head. At most, it could slow down the rate of “vampire drain,” when batteries lose their charge over time when not in use, as some Cybertruck owners have been noticing.
That doesn’t mean solar panel accessories have no place in the automotive world. Particularly during more adventurous driving and overlanding, access to a steady source of free renewable energy can prove extremely useful.
More on the Cybertruck: Tesla Moves Workers Away From Cybertruck Production as Demand Slumps
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