CT Motorized Solar Panels

[mrbulk]

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Saw this on the web, hoping it's true or at least very similar...

Hey Elon, have you seen this ???

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[Blue Steel]

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Saw this on the web, hoping it's true or at least very similar...

Hey Elon, have you seen this ???

Personally I wouldn’t want that if it were free. Too many moving parts. It also looks like the hydraulics would take up space in the bed.

If there is a fold out array I would bet money it’s stored in the sail compartments. Feels like the natural spot to stow an array. I imagine it folding out like one of these.

 

[mrbulk]

For me the main thing is I just push a button. Not gonna get out and pull on stuff or unfold anything, I already did all that with locking hubs and such back in the day, but now too old for that. I need pushbuttons like George Jetson.

 

[Newton]

Very cool, but so unnecessary. AJ calculated for the panels I want to add would add at max about 30 miles a day( in direct sun 8 hour days) So this would add probably 40max, and it looks like it is in place of the vault cover .also, why the extra set of wheels?
edit... oh i didnt see it expanded even further, so probably 60-70 miles a day

Here's the thread about the panels I will most likely be adding.
https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/charging-directly-from-solar-panels.1128/page-2

 

[BillyGee]

Couldn't the autopilot just be given freedom to rotate the truck as needed to track the sun?

Assuming you left it in an open space and just the tonneau cover had solar panelings you could maximize the power generated by just letting it turn to optimize the angle.

 

[ajdelange]

Couldn't the autopilot just be given freedom to rotate the truck as needed to track the sun?

Assuming you left it in an open space and just the tonneau cover had solar panelings you could maximize the power generated by just letting it turn to optimize the angle.

Now here's where Rivian will have it all over Tesla as they can "Tank Turn™" their vehicles in place.

 

[Newton]

Now here's where Rivian will have it all over Tesla as they can "Tank Turn™" their vehicles in place.

imagine a parking lot with large spaces where u just see a fleet of rivians rotating during the day, or a gaggle of Cybertruck shifting there positions in unison.

 

[mrbulk]

imagine a parking lot with large spaces where u just see a fleet of rivians rotating during the day, or a gaggle of Cybertruck shifting there positions in unison.

Speaking of unison, I wonder if there would eventually be "CT villages" at some point, where a small group of adjacent homes all with CTs cooperatively hook up to their little "grid" to provide power to the houses at night. I would buy a house there.

 

[Newton]

Speaking of unison, I wonder if there would eventually be "CT villages" at some point, where a small group of adjacent homes all with CTs cooperatively hook up to their little "grid" to provide power to the houses at night. I would buy a house there.

maybe on mars

 

[ÆCIII]

Not saying I'd want it, but I've always been of the opinion that a 'Solar Array' implementation would be needed for any practical charge rates for soaking up sun while vehicles are parked, because vehicles themselves simply don't have very much surface area (excluding Semi Trailers of course). Now if someone designed a Trailer with an even larger or more elaborate Solar Array, which then could be umbilical connected to the CT at times needed - I think that would give more usable charge rates without interfering with the bed. An array on a dedicated trailer could be more easily integrated with Sun tracking mechanisms for optimal exposure angle. Such a trailer could provide practical charge rates while traveling/camping in distant areas without electricity infrastructure, but it also could be useful at construction job sites the CT might be at where electricity is not yet turned on or available either. Of course one drawback would be parking and space for deployment. Even with a deployable array, the charge rates will be far less than what a Supercharger can provide so it would be a half to full day parking session needed.

 

[egandalf]

An array on a dedicated trailer could be more easily integrated with Sun tracking mechanisms for optimal exposure angle.

I really dig this idea. Seems like a lot less would be needed to enable tracking. The risk I see would be under-drafting of the panels at highway speeds. They'd have to be pretty well anchored while driving. But while parked? Hell yeah.

Also makes me want to set up a dedicated array and inverter next to my driveway just to charge up this behemoth off-grid.

Probably would make more sense to try to put more panels on our home array, but it would be a pretty cool DIY project for the truck.

 

[ajdelange]

Let's say you have 20 panels of the sort that are normally put onto roofs. They would, in full sun, give about 5 kW. The CT is probably going to consume 400 Wh/mi so the 5 kW would give you 12.5 miles per hour. But you don't full sun all day. In Virginia you would get perhaps 7 on a good summer day for a respectable 87 miles or so but in winter it would go down to less than half that.

 

[Questor3]

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Saw this on the web, hoping it's true or at least very similar...

Hey Elon, have you seen this ???

 

[Questor3]

I want one on mine!!!!