The Californian company Sunflare Solar has equipped the Tesla Cybertruck with solar panels that power the onboard battery. The service is capable of providing an additional 20 km per day.
The company develops flexible solar panels that can be used as a wrap. For cars, it’s relatively small energy, but technically it can add more than 20 km of range. The kit comes with a 5 kW battery inverter, which transfers energy to the truck.
One of the commentators notes that the material used by the company is designed for about 100 W/m² during sunny weather and unobstructed sun exposure. Accordingly, 1.5 kW would require an area of 15 m² — much larger than the surface of the car. In his opinion, the company meant 1.5 kW*h per day.
Back in 2017, Elon Musk mentioned that he had prompted Tesla engineers to consider the possibility of integrating solar panels into Model 3, but they concluded that at that time it was not worth it. Since then, the efficiency of solar panels has improved, and Tesla began creating its own — albeit in the form of solar shingles.
After the launch of the Cybertruck, Elon Musk promised that the pickup would have a solar roof option, which would add up to 24 km of range per day. A few years later, Tesla filed a patent application, but since then the option has not appeared in any of the company’s cars.
Source: Electrek
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