What I need to camp off-road and off-grid

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Different forum article submitter said 99% of the US is not accessible to EV chargers. Not going to talk about that number. What I want to discuss is what I should include in my off-road and off-grid camping and exploring Cybertruck. There are plenty of articles around the web that discuss food, water, and stuff like that. I want to hear from electrical and solar-power engineers as well as Tesla about what types of solar panels and charging equipment I'd need to pack to not charge at any EV charger, person's house or an RV park or campsite. I want to be off-grid for one month and travel 1000+ miles off road in the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, or many areas of Canada. It might be difficult to do this without accidentally passing a EV charger or nice person's house who'd let me charge but let's say I would simply drive by them. I'm assuming a maximum drive of 250 miles before charging since I'd be using the CT to power my things (see #4).

Let's start off with my reserved, stock two-motor Cybertruck. Here's what I would want to add. Anyone interested can add to my list with legitimate items that really work with the Cybertruck (ok, with any/most Teslas since we don't know everything about the CT).

1. Roof rack to hold my rooftop tent. (Own the rooftop tent, need the roof rack.)

2. How many solar panels would I need to get a 50% charge in ??? number of days of at least 8 hrs of good sun per day?

3. Convertor/inverter to directly charge the CT. Can this be done?

4. Would I need extra batteries or would I be able to use the CT's batteries for every electrical item I'd want to use? I'd rather cook on gas but induction heating will have to do for camping with the CT. Using https://geekydeck.com/best-camping-induction-cooktop/, here's their top choice, iSiLER 1800W Sensor Touch Electric Induction Cooker Cooktop ($70). I'd bring along my Zojirushi rice cooker (best one I've ever used) along with my Instant Pot and various pans. LED lights odn't take much so not worried about that load.

5. I'm sure I would be out of cellular range 99% of the time. Would I want to get a satellite phone or a Starlink internet set up? I am talking about the northern parts of North America. It's available in Washington state so the upper Rockies, Alaska and Canada shouldn't be a problem. After all, I need to watch some movies!

6. At least one (two) spare tires? Typical off-road jack? Recovery boards, winch (where would attach?) Tow straps? Extra lights or are the CT's top lights going to be enough? CT has an air compressor so extra stuff might be emergency tire patch kits.

7. Some place to hang my fishing poles, shovel and all the standard off-road and camping stuff.

8. Start adding your things plus technical information clarifying #1-7.

1a. Forgot I really need to include two people in this configuration. Going alone would not be the more prudent thing to do. No, I'm not asking for someone to go with me, just configuring the CT for a minimum of two people.

Have fun!!! I hope to once I get my CT.
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Ogre

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The big problem you are going to have is charge rate.

Most portable solar setups top off at 110v. That means your max charge rate is going to be 3-4 miles per hour during peak sunlight.

This is why I'm most interested in the integrated solar. Trebly so if it would allow you to plug in additional panels. But the integrated panels you are looking at 15 miles/ day.

If you are looking for more than a few miles a day, expect to spend a lot of time deploying and storing panels.
 

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We don't know the battery size or the charging controller available. So currently we don't have enough information to know.

But! If we're assuming you're only traveling in the summer (hence the 8 hours full sun)

You will need over 8kW of solar panels to get, say 150 miles range a day. That's about 460 sq ft of panels, or larger than a than a 20' by 23' area.

-Crissa
 
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We don't know the battery size or the charging controller available. So currently we don't have enough information to know.

But! If we're assuming you're only traveling in the summer (hence the 8 hours full sun)

You will need over 8kW of solar panels to get, say 150 miles range a day. That's about 460 sq ft of panels, or larger than a than a 20' by 23' area.

-Crissa
So #4. I'd need to know how large each panel is: ______. How thick each is: ________. How much extra equipment required to connect to CT?

To determine how much room a large stack of them would require. I'm not sure I would be getting the builtin solar panels because they'd be covered by my roof rack and rooftop tent so they wouldn't be included in the equation. I'd need to assign an area in the bed to hold them.
 

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Also, you might want to visit the northern climes during the peak of the summer so that you can take advantage of the extra solar exposure. The solar panels would basically be a waste of space and weight if you visited Alaska during December/January.
 


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Also, you might want to visit the northern climes during the peak of the summer so that you can take advantage of the extra solar exposure. The solar panels would basically be a waste of space and weight if you visited Alaska during December/January.
I've visited Alaska in the spring-fall and it's too cold.
 

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And depending on how fast you intend to drive, you might want to limit the number of items you attach to the outside of the CT. If you are in a CT2 and trying to charge with solar panels, every little loss of range is going to be a hit to how far you can get and how long you can stay out.

On the other hand, If you are driving at a mild speed every time you are out of supercharger or even outlet charging then perhaps the extra drag won't be too noticeable.
 

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And depending on how fast you intend to drive, you might want to limit the number of items you attach to the outside of the CT.
So much this.

I keep seeing people tacking things onto their fantasy trucks and that stuff is going to kill range. Going naked is the best way to get the quoted range.

Related, drive like a granny. Going 70 MPH is great when you have a Supercharger ahead, cruising along at a leisurely 50MPH will be frustrating, but save you a fair bit of time waiting for the truck to charge up later. Trebly so on climbs.

That's probably way far out for you, but every % you don't burn while driving saves you time charging.
 
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And depending on how fast you intend to drive, you might want to limit the number of items you attach to the outside of the CT. If you are in a CT2 and trying to charge with solar panels, every little loss of range is going to be a hit to how far you can get and how long you can stay out.

On the other hand, If you are driving at a mild speed every time you are out of supercharger or even outlet charging then perhaps the extra drag won't be too noticeable.
I've been playing with a 2D drawing of the CT, adding different things. Here's a simple drawing showing my Roofnest Sparrow rooftop tent attached via a custom roof rack (not really, just a couple posts, would add a full, flat side for carrying things). I'm more or less trying to keep the RTT low enough not to create a huge drag but understand the air flow going over the CT would be interrupted.

Tesla Cybertruck What I need to camp off-road and off-grid Screen Shot 2021-09-18 at 6.29.43 PM
 
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So much this.

I keep seeing people tacking things onto their fantasy trucks and that stuff is going to kill range. Going naked is the best way to get the quoted range.

Related, drive like a granny. Going 70 MPH is great when you have a Supercharger ahead, cruising along at a leisurely 50MPH will be frustrating, but save you a fair bit of time waiting for the truck to charge up later. Trebly so on climbs.

That's probably way far out for you, but every % you don't burn while driving saves you time charging.
When I'm off-road I doubt I'd be going 70mph, probably no more than 30mph. I'm there to enjoy the view along the way, not just the end result. I plan on using as much of the bed as possible, that's why I need to start planning now. ;-)
 


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I've been playing with a 2D drawing of the CT, adding different things. Here's a simple drawing showing my Roofnest Sparrow rooftop tent attached via a custom roof rack (not really, just a couple posts, would add a full, flat side for carrying things). I'm more or less trying to keep the RTT low enough not to create a huge drag but understand the air flow going over the CT would be interrupted.

Screen Shot 2021-09-18 at 6.29.43 PM.png
That is likely going to cost you 10% of range.

I was thinking it might be interesting to do a RTT on one of those pull out drawer systems to keep it tucked it. Something like this.

https://www.etrailer.com/Slide-Out-Cargo-Trays/CargoGlide/cg2200xl-8048.html
 

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When I'm off-road I doubt I'd be going 70mph, probably no more than 30mph. I'm there to enjoy the view along the way, not just the end result. I plan on using as much of the bed as possible, that's why I need to start planning now. ;-)
Forest roads at 30MPH will gift you a lot of range.
 

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That is likely going to cost you 10% of range.

I was thinking it might be interesting to do a RTT on one of those pull out drawer systems to keep it tucked it. Something like this.

https://www.etrailer.com/Slide-Out-Cargo-Trays/CargoGlide/cg2200xl-8048.html
It would need to be really sturdy but I could see this working. Interesting idea! Side benefit is that it will be harder for creepy crawlies to get in the tent but with it this low, it will still be fairly easy for the humans to get in the tent. Side issue, one's feet will be just about at buffet height for the bears.
 
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It would need to be really sturdy but I could see this working. Interesting idea! Side benefit is that it will be harder for creepy crawlies to get in the tent but with it this low, it will still be fairly easy for the humans to get in the tent. Side issue, one's feet will be just about at buffet height for the bears.
Exactly why I want to be 6-ft (or more) off the ground. Only grizzlies can get that high. My RTT has soft sides and a hard top so it probably wouldn't be allowed in bear country anyway unless I park in the tent area, which means I'd be in a campground with limited room for a mini-solar array along with the high probability of nearby electrical outlets.

I could also accept the 10% loss in range, especially since I'm used to a 50% loss when pulling just about any trailer in my Tacoma, even ultralights. Different subject but I am hoping Tesla can engineer something that doesn't allow the typical 30-50% loss when towing anything.
 

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So #4. I'd need to know how large each panel is: ______. How thick each is: ________. How much extra equipment required to connect to CT?
Well, that's up to you. Different manufacture yields different results.

The thinnest will be a few millimeters. If you want an angle, it'll be one or two centimeters. Mine are two inches, but I can hide all the electronics under them.

SunPower, one of the more common panels, now does 370W per 2.6 sq ft. You can get about that density in several sizes, I've calculated it in different threads.

-Crissa

PS, Grizzlies are the only ones who break into tents, for the most part.
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