CT Solar - Cost Estimations/etc

[Crissa]

Have people done pre-orders where someone just arbitrarily changed the price after the fact? I’ve never heard of such a thing happening. I know the contract says the price is just an estimate. But you don’t give someone an estimate, then increase the scope of the project and charge them more. I’m not even sure that’s legal.

Yes. Reservations are places in line, not a price.

However, they generally don't give a price other than 'it will be over this' or 'it will be between these numbers' if at all.

Tesla hasn't done that.

-Crissa

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[Ogre]

God how I hate math!

Saving money on power isn’t really the purpose.

Having solar on the truck is about parking away from a plug for long periods of time.

If it’s $5k, I don’t think many people are paying for it regardless.

 

[Challeco]

Plastic solar panels are pretty durable. And with steel slats behind them? Darn near indestructible.

I don't get the 'I can put them on my house' argument.

I can't put solar panels in the street. I can't even put them over my parking space (too close to transmission wires). I can't charge from stationary panels when I'm on the road.

-Crissa

I agree with you about the portable charging. My mind goes to camping trips or into areas that do not have superchargers. Even if it is only 15 miles a day, that is enough to power an electric chainsaw or other power tools without reducing range. Or, my favorite, the coffee pot while I am glamping.

 

[Ogre]

Actually the math thing is a curious exercise because it makes surprisingly good sense in some cases. For example, my case.

I have 2 Teslas and 1 Wall Charger. With solar, I don’t need a second wall charger. Which means solar will save me $1000 ($500 for the charger and $500 for parts to install it).

That means, at $1000, solar is essentially “free” for me.

At $2000, it pays for itself in 900,000 miles. A stretch in pure economic terms, but easily worth it for the convenience of being able to go camping.

Every dollar above $2000, it’s all about that camping/ overlanding capability. $5k is still a hard sell.

 

[Challeco]

Saving money on power isn’t really the purpose.

Having solar on the truck is about parking away from a plug for long periods of time.

If it’s $5k, I don’t think many people are paying for it regardless.

Insurance is a gamble and more expensive than saving cash. But, without insurance, cars would be too expensive, healthcare would be "don't die", and there would be a lot more ugly mouths without dental insurance.
I see the solar tonneau cover as insurance. The cybertruck is a truck. It is supposed to be utilitarian in nature. Unlike the models S3XY, it is designed to go off the paved paths, which is the only avenue to a supercharger and likely any electric power sizable enough to charge the main battery pack.
I will be getting the solar option before any other because I intend on using mine where I may be the only source of electricity.

 

[Ogre]

I will be getting the solar option before any other because I intend on using mine where I may be the only source of electricity.

I have this weird thought of a cabin in the woods with no power save an extension cord running to the CT now. Or for that matter, a multi-day blackout with that same power cord.

 

[Challeco]

I have this weird thought of a cabin in the woods with no power save an extension cord running to the CT now. Or for that matter, a multi-day blackout with that same power cord.

Or an off grid cabin, out of cell range, by a spring, building materials, and cobbled together days of building and relaxing.

 

[GnarlyDudeLive]

It cost about 3c per mile to charge a CT. If Fold out solar panel cost $5,000 then @ 15 miles per day.
B.E.P.
11,111 days to break even for the cost of a fold out CT solar panel.
or
4.5 Million miles
Me
I will just buy the plug in CT and drive until its dead.
Math
God how I hate math!

If you really want to get full blown mathy you should also calculate the rise in energy costs being that is going to take some years for pay off for sure and I could easily see a doubling or more in electricity prices.

 

[Qball]

Yes, you can. Panels are collections of solar cells in serial. You can connect panels in serial within their rating (My camping set puts 4 in serial to generate a hundred volts that's cross converted by my MPPT system)


It is, but it depends on the cell and the configuration. Monocrystalline cells become highly resistive in shade, which means if one cell in the chain on a panel is shaded, it drops the whole panels' output. Amorphous, for instance, don't have that resistance issue and shade doesn't affect their output as much. (They don't have the same peak, either, but will produce more in dappled shade tha monocrystalline).

There's just lots of possibilities out there. And when you're buying them wholesale, you get to choose the configuration of cells, and so it's not more expensive than buying pre-configured panels.


Naw, this is universal building code. I can't just cover the street, it's not mine. And they have to be able to fix the lines so I can't encroach upon the power lines/pole!

-Crissa

You are correct, there is no doubt there are ways to make it technically possible but unless Tesla add it to every CT then the cost won’t be very favorable. No matter the cell type you only get about 30 minutes of semi optimal sunlight so you have re-park every 30 minutes? Then personally I don’t like to sit in the sun so always camping in shaded areas so I have to park the CT miles away while baking my interior so AC will kick in and burn more than solar generation?

It’s just my opinion that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. If they simply give me a port to plug in my panels with built in controller then that’s would be good because I can move and reposition the panels. BUT even then would it be worth it? I rather put that money towards the tri motor with insulated cover.

one way to solve a problem engineers don’t always consider is to not have that problems to begin with. To solve power problem you can simply have more power capacity which has many other benefits. And if you still need that extra 5 miles after possible 600 miles of range then just consider drive a bit slower.

even today without the CT I already have an aux battery can be charged by solar to run my coffee maker, compressor, rice cooker, charge phone, iPads. My Milwaukee chainsaw, lights and other tools have their own battery system which I’ve already invested more money than I like to admit just so I don’t even need to bother with charging for a while. And my aux battery only has 0.6 KWH and it’s enough for a weekend of comping with just a little bit of solar charging just in case. Unless you brought the entire house worth of appliance I don’t think you really need the hassle and cost of solar.

 

[CyberGus]

11,111 days to break even for the cost of a fold out CT solar panel.
or
4.5 Million miles

oh plz, I’m driving my CT at least 10m miles

 

[rodmacpherson]

Under $1000 on the Cybertruck makes it an instant buy just so I never have to worry about parking and having the battery drain after being parked for a few days.

Knowing I can leave it unplugged and parked outdoors at the airport while on vacation with sentry mode running and not come home to a flat battery would be a nice upgrade well worth putting some $ into a solar option. For me I expect that if it actually lives up to the 15 mile/day claim my break even on it is almost $2k CAD if I have it 10 years with no need for any repairs to the panel. For the savings, the sentry mode convenience and the bonus juice it would collect on camping trips (even if that isn't much due to shade) I would probably be willing to pay $4k, maybe a little more.

 

[Newton]

i mean most of you guys are buying a 3rd or more vehicle thats costs more than 70k$....

i dont think price really matters much

 

[Ogre]

i mean most of you guys are buying a 3rd or more vehicle thats costs more than 70k$....

i dont think price really matters much

Cybertruck is replacing a paid off, 10 year old Subaru. It‘ll be the second car in a 2 car house. We don’t buy cars often and when we do, we research and focus on value.

Value matters a lot. This truck is also the most expensive vehicle I have ever seriously considered buying by a large margin.

 

[Ogre]

You are correct, there is no doubt there are ways to make it technically possible but unless Tesla add it to every CT then the cost won’t be very favorable. No matter the cell type you only get about 30 minutes of semi optimal sunlight so you have re-park every 30 minutes? Then personally I don’t like to sit in the sun so always camping in shaded areas so I have to park the CT miles away while baking my interior so AC will kick in and burn more than solar generation?

You have some good points which are somewhat diluted by exaggeration. It should be pretty straight forward finding mostly north facing parking (solar panels pointed south) and getting decent collection. You won’t get 15 miles per day. Likely 3-4 miles most days unless you do really worry on it.

Musk suggested the solar wings could add 30-40 miles worth of range. Even at 1/3 efficiency that is quite interesting.

one way to solve a problem engineers don’t always consider is to not have that problems to begin with. To solve power problem you can simply have more power capacity which has many other benefits. And if you still need that extra 5 miles after possible 600 miles of range then just consider drive a bit slower.

The cost Tesla typically charged to add range to cars is about $100/ mile. (200 miles = $20,000)

Staying a week at a camp site cost me about ~50 miles of range. Adding batteries to cover that would cost $5000. If the solar plus wings option costs $5000, even at 1/4 the 30-40 miles claimed collection rate it would exceed that 50 mile bigger battery after less than a week.

My interest in range revolves largely on trips like this. Most places I camp are within 100 miles of a supercharger. The big question in my mind is whether the solar option could replace the $20,000 upgrade to the CT3. If I could average 10+ miles per day with the solar wings I almost think it could.

 

[Crissa]

Integrated solar pays for itself based on how much solar you get and how much charging you're replacing - not to mention how much longer it lets you sit on site away from a plug.

Option price / your electricity cost * miles per kilowatt = how many miles you need to pay back (about 30,000 miles for me)

or...
( Option price / your electricity cost ) / ( option kW size * sun-hours per day average ) = how long it will take to generate that electricity

We have to make so many assumptions here, though. We don't know the solar option cost, we don't know how many miles per kWh the truck will do, we don't know the size of the array...we don't know the electricity price a couple years from now.

-Crissa

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