Solar CT news? Where do you plan to park your Cybertruck?

[HaulingAss]

Depending upon where you live a solar carport kit might be an attractive option:

Solar Panel Carport Kits - Factory Direct Price | Symtech Solar

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[cvalue13]

Depending upon where you live a solar carport kit might be an attractive option:

Solar Panel Carport Kits - Factory Direct Price | Symtech Solar

indirectly makes a good point about CT Solar being helpful when part outside at home

for many, their roof is a better location for solar when parked at home

understanding not everyone has that opportunity

 

[TyPope]

My two car garage is 20' long ;( don't think 7" of clearance will be enough, but i guess technically it would fit! Maybe with the 5% shrink and a little bit of cleanup, i could risk a foot and a half? I suppose it could stick out in a pinch...

When I first moved to Nebraska, I was in an apartment before finding a house. The first bad hail storm had me parking my truck in my garage... nose to the wall, butt hanging out by a foot.

I had the garage because at that apartment, you were allowed to park in front of a garage unit if you were paying for the garage and parking elsewhere sucked. Needless to say, I changed my house search criteria to include a garage large enough for my truck!

 

[TyPope]

Oh can we have someone prove all these measurements with detailed images? I don't think we've done that yet...

I don't think anyone has seen finalized measurements. I was going off the initially released numbers and I believe everyone agrees the CT will not be larger than the initial unveiling.

 

[Gurule92]

I don't think anyone has seen finalized measurements. I was going off the initially released numbers and I believe everyone agrees the CT will not be larger than the initial unveiling.

lol ofc.

I was joking about all the iphone measurement threads

 

[Bill W.]

Sadly, many newer developments boast having 2-car garages that are in reality ~1 and a half car garages. I expect that I'll have to park in the driveway and either relocate my charger or find an acceptable extension cable and route it under the door.

 

[cvalue13]

Sadly, many newer developments boast having 2-car garages that are in reality ~1 and a half car garages. I expect that I'll have to park in the driveway and either relocate my charger or find an acceptable extension cable and route it under the door.

in Texas, at least, I found that mounting the charger closer to the garage door allows the normal length (of a Ford cable) to simply slip under the closed garage door and plug in to the Lightning nosed up to the door. Still allows charging inside the garage as well.

some day I’ll get around to installing something like a small cat door (or more purpose-built) access panel on the wall to the left of the garage door for passing the charge cable through

 

[Gurule92]

in Texas, at least, I found that mounting the charger closer to the garage door allows the normal length (of a Ford cable) to simply slip under the closed garage door and plug in to the Lightning nosed up to the door. Still allows charging inside the garage as well.

some day I’ll get around to installing something like a small cat door (or more purpose-built) access panel on the wall to the left of the garage door for passing the charge cable through

My travel tesla charger is setup close to the opening of my garage. My CT will need to be reversed in the driveway for sure. I am holding out getting a second charger until tesla (hopefully) jumps on the bidirectional train

 

[ςyb3®tЯμ¢kℓ|gh†n!ng]

I think solar could be huge for an "outside truck" , someone tell Musk!

I live in a townhome with an attached garage, it has served my M3 well.. But I'd hate to have an EV without a garage to charge it in.. And i am slightly concerned about the CyberTruck not fitting in my standard garage. I foresee frequent supercharger visits in my future, or a house upgrade. I hope i wont have to use street parking, but getting a spot near the visitors area is going to be tough. I plan to make a deal with the local pub up the street, to park the truck in the back in a pinch..

Wherever i park though, camping or at home, its going to be in the sun. Just a few solar panels would go a long way towards eliminating phantom drain at least, for a truck that will not fit in most garages. Thoughts? Hopes? News?

I think the original cover in the back was rumored to be solar but the surface area and the efficiency isn't there yet. I don't think. I've seen several different concepts to solve the surface area issue. See:


https://electrek.co/2020/07/13/tesla-cybertruck-deployable-solar-concept/

Problem is efficiency.
There are people working on this. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskite_solar_cell
Problem with these new highly efficient cells is lifespan.
So you have either long lasting but not efficient or efficient but need to be replaced quickly.
The solution hasn't been found yet.

 

[Baldey]

Problem is efficiency.
There are people working on this. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskite_solar_cell
Problem with these new highly efficient cells is lifespan.
So you have either long lasting but not efficient or efficient but need to be replaced quickly.
The solution hasn't been found yet.

Yeah, i highly doubt perovskites will be ready for commercial use anytime soon. I would be perfectly happy with the small surface area of the bed cover to be filled with good o'l silicon ones, 20% efficiency is fine by me. Not even looking for any meaningful range, i just want to be able to use sentry mode without draining the battery..

I think that at least is feasible with yesterday's solar tech. And seeing as Tesla owns a solar roof company, i don't think that is too much to ask..

 

[slomo]

If solar is not economically favorable for your home it likely makes even less sense for a vehicle exclusive system. Especially if you are not limiting driving to night only.

My late night charging rate in Chicago has been averaging about 7 cents/kwh. The only way solar beats that low price is to forecast very optimistic future savings. Or by highly valuing the benefit of backup power from solar plus battery.

Where solar can make good economic sense is highly variable by location and time of use.

 

[slomo]

You missing the benefit of using the Tesla API to charge the EV and perform other feats. You RAM just sits like a dummy.

 

[davelloydbrown]

I have a 40' x 50 ' quanset style metal garage with three doors- the largest of which is 10' x 10' so I will have no problem fitting it inside. If available I would be interested in the solar panel option so I can easily park it just ouside one of the doors which is next to my home charger with a 24' cable installed for my model 3.

 

[cvalue13]

I have a 40' x 50 ' quanset style metal garage with three doors- the largest of which is 10' x 10' so I will have no problem fitting it inside. If available I would be interested in the solar panel option so I can easily park it just ouside one of the doors which is next to my home charger with a 24' cable installed for my model 3.

yours sounds like a classic example of being better off with installed solar on that quanset.

As an aside, my Lightning purchase decision making ran the other direction: buying a BEV made that much more sense because I had previously and for independent reasons already installed ~22KW of solar. Adding a BEV increased the value proposition of an investment I’d already made.

I don’t see much justification for on-vehicle solar capability, unless/until the panel technology becomes so efficient, ruggedized, etc., that it’s a cost/maintenance rounding error. the primary utility of such a system will not be for folks who are parked at home.

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