Mounting anchor points on Cybertruck roof and bed (photo) for racks, parts, accessories

[fhteagle]

I wonder if it might be better aero to lift a cargo pod out of the messy air on the 'backpack' of the truck up into the clean air.

Short answer: this is very very very unlikely to be better. Unless there was some really crazy interference drag pocket between the body, rack, and contents, being in the already de-energized boundary and adjacent layers is better, even if it is 'messy'.

anybody got access to AirShaper or similar CFD tool to confirm?

Sponsored

 

[cvalue13]

Short answer: this is very very very unlikely to be better. Unless there was some really crazy interference drag pocket between the body, rack, and contents, being in the already de-energized boundary and adjacent layers is better, even if it is 'messy'.

anybody got access to AirShaper or similar CFD tool to confirm?

 

[MiguelAznar]

I’d like a couple of rigid solar panels about the size of the bed (4’x6’)that could attach to those mounting points on one end and poles to the ground on the other, creating an awning while camping. For a level awning, bolts or arms would need to bend from the slope of the roof to vertical. For a sloping awning, like a lean-to, the panels could attach directly with bolts.

I have no experience making something like this. Does anyone with experience share my interest?

 

[cvalue13]

I’d like a couple of rigid solar panels about the size of the bed (4’x6’)that could attach to those mounting points on one end and poles to the ground on the other, creating an awning while camping. For a level awning, bolts or arms would need to bend from the slope of the roof to vertical. For a sloping awning, like a lean-to, the panels could attach directly with bolts.

I have no experience making something like this. Does anyone with experience share my interest?

 

[PilotPete]

Short answer: this is very very very unlikely to be better. Unless there was some really crazy interference drag pocket between the body, rack, and contents, being in the already de-energized boundary and adjacent layers is better, even if it is 'messy'.

anybody got access to AirShaper or similar CFD tool to confirm?

We have a couple CFD processors, but without knowing all the angles and size ratios, the data isn't likely to be very accurate. As soon as I can get close enough to one, it's playtime!

 

[Greshnab]

I’d like a couple of rigid solar panels about the size of the bed (4’x6’)that could attach to those mounting points on one end and poles to the ground on the other, creating an awning while camping. For a level awning, bolts or arms would need to bend from the slope of the roof to vertical. For a sloping awning, like a lean-to, the panels could attach directly with bolts.

I have no experience making something like this. Does anyone with experience share my interest?

I did.. then i did a little research.. i have no experience either... solar panels will give ya about 15 watts per sq foot... that is a 24 sq foot space.. coubled would give you about 720 wats.. or 3/4 of a kw per hour.. assuming a 75 kw battery about 100 hours of sunlight to charge...

doesn't seem worth it to me..

plus that didn't take into account the fact that both solar panels won't get sun at the same time.. shade from trees buildings etc.....

bottom line a full charge is going to be fairly cheap.. and solar panels aren't.

 

[Crissa]

I did.. then i did a little research.. i have no experience either... solar panels will give ya about 15 watts per sq foot... that is a 24 sq foot space.. coubled would give you about 720 wats.. or 3/4 of a kw per hour.. assuming a 75 kw battery about 100 hours of sunlight to charge...

doesn't seem worth it to me..

...Because you're forgetting the truck will constantly be losing range to battery management, cabin overheat protection, communications overhead, and sentry mode.

-Crissa

 

[Greshnab]

...Because you're forgetting the truck will constantly be losing range to battery management, cabin overheat protection, communications overhead, and sentry mode.

-Crissa

I am aware of that ... i just don't think 1 % per hour of direct sunlight will help much.. but hey to each their own.

 

[cvalue13]

We have a couple CFD processors, but without knowing all the angles and size ratios, the data isn't likely to be very accurate. As soon as I can get close enough to one, it's playtime!

computers!?

Head down to the Petersen with some yarn, masking tape, and a shop fan - like the good ole days!

 

[PilotPete]

computers!?

Head down to the Petersen with some yarn, masking tape, and a shop fan - like the good ole days!

I'm with ya!

 

[Albern]

Short answer: this is very very very unlikely to be better. Unless there was some really crazy interference drag pocket between the body, rack, and contents, being in the already de-energized boundary and adjacent layers is better, even if it is 'messy'.

anybody got access to AirShaper or similar CFD tool to confirm?

You seem knowledgeable in that space. How are aero SaaS tools these days?
https://airshaper.com/

 

[Crissa]

I am aware of that ... i just don't think 1 % per hour of direct sunlight will help much.. but hey to each their own.

Going by the standard rule of thumb of five hours of exposure per day and your conservative estimate of 1% per hour, that's still eighteen full charges over a year or almost fifty-five hundred miles, or over a third of the annual miles of the average American car.

-Crissa

 

[Greshnab]

Going by the standard rule of thumb of five hours of exposure per day and your conservative estimate of 1% per hour, that's still eighteen full charges over a year or almost fifty-five hundred miles, or over a third of the annual miles of the average American car.

-Crissa

at what cost?? IMHO you would be far better spending more and getting whole house solar.. charging for free from home.. or mounting those panels in a south facing location at home.. and ot having to worry about the variables involved in trying to lug solar around on a truck..

Not saying no one will do it.. or it won't work for anyone.. but the return on investment for trying to put solar panels on the truck seems to low to me until we come up with a better tech.. and long before we come up with a better tech.. we will have increased the stored energy in the batteries so much that you won't NEED it really.

 

[cvalue13]

I'm with ya!

exactly!

that photo is of a Brubaker Box, a short-lived but famous kit car of the 70’s, with fiberglass panels that bolted tot he frame of a VW Beetle - credited as an early conceptual predecessor of the mini-van

It’s designer, Curt Brubaker. who in that photo is conducting an aero test of the Box, went to design school with with one of the Lear family and spent his early career on the design team of the first Lear jet (and ill-fated Lear helicopter)

In the photo. he’s just doing airplane stuff to kit cars!

Incidentally, Brubaker is also the guy who did this concept car for Penthouse in 1978

some have noted:

see also the copy:

 

[Crissa]

Your whole house won't be connected to your truck on a sunny day sitting in a parking lot or on the road... Or camping. So that energy would be lost.

-Crissa

Sponsored