There is another attempt to create a solar-powered Tesla. DartSolar is pitching a drivable solar array to self-charge your car. Companies are experimenting with this concept, aiming to enhance the sustainability and self-sufficiency of EVs. A solar-powered Tesla would be amazing, no doubt. But it isn’t happening. That is not this writer's opinion, but the guy who may be the biggest fan of both solar and Tesla: Elon Musk.
A New Solar Addition for Tesla
Taking on the challenge is an ambitious company working on the "drivable solar array," currently in beta, designed to self-charge EVs. The company uses a Tesla Model Y test vehicle with nine large solar panels. The website states that “Beta One is light enough to be carried on the roof rack of your EV. It weighs less than 165 lbs. When expanded, it fits in a standard parking spot.”
Beta One features flexible solar panels without junction boxes, allowing for flat shipping and simple assembly into four sections. Projected to be priced at $4,000 USD and using nine 175-watt panels, Beta One claims to generate 6 kWh daily, providing about 20 miles (32 kilometers) of EV range with five hours of sunlight.
Payback on Investment
The amount of energy generated and range gained on an EV with these panels will obviously vary depending on the location, weather, and the vehicle, but how long would it take to recoup the initial investment? Without taking into account any range decrease due to the reduced aerodynamics and increased weight, owners would be looking at about $0.97 USD in daily savings (based on 16.21 cents per kWh average in the U.S.) when using these solar panels.
Before you even take into account the look of the vehicle, the added maintenance, and potential issues, owners would be looking at more than 11 years before making back their initial investment of $4,000.
That’s not to say this project doesn’t have its benefits and use cases. If you’re in a remote location with little access to electricity, this could be an interesting idea, however, it’s not going to make sense for most consumers. Solar requires a lot of space and right now it just makes more sense on a large open area instead of being strapped to the top of a moving vehicle. However, projects such as these continue to push innovation and outside-of-the-box thinking.
Musk recently posted on X: "Earth already receives about the same energy from the Sun in an hour than humanity consumes in a year. Solar panels just need to catch a tiny amount of it to power our entire civilization!" Despite acknowledging the immense potential of solar energy, Musk remains doubtful about its application in EVs due to limited surface area. In this video clip, he gives a simple explanation for his 2021 appearance with Joe Rogan.
Aptera's Solar Electric Vehicle: A Case Study
Aptera Motors continues to face the challenge of creating a solar-powered vehicle. The San Diego start-up has been raising funds for a few years to produce its unique, three-wheel sun-powered car. This vehicle can travel up to 1,000 miles on a single charge, up to 40 miles powered solely by solar energy.
Aptera's Solar Powered Car
Aptera
Aptera's vehicle is aerodynamically optimized and built with lightweight materials. Its unique shape and solar panel integration set it apart from traditional EVs, showcasing the potential of solar energy in transportation.
The integration of solar energy with EVs represents a frontier in sustainable transportation. While challenges such as surface area limitations exist, innovations like DartSolar’s Beta One and Aptera's solar electric vehicle may pave the way for a sunny and greener future.
Tesla’s been on a roll with Supercharger improvements lately, from the 325kW charging update for the Cybertruck, to 500kW with V4 Superchargers coming next year. While those improvements have been limited to the Cybertruck, Tesla didn’t put all their focus on their new flagship vehicle, but looked at their more affordable vehicles as well.
LFP Battery Heating
Tesla’s Superchargers can now heat LFP Batteries - those that are in the Model 3 and Model Y Rear Wheel Drive variants. This applies to Long Range and Standard Range models, which saw a limited run. This is another update included as part of the 2024 Tesla Holiday Update - which really arrived with a lot of unannounced new features and capabilities.
The change is pretty interesting - Superchargers of the V3 and V4 variety can now pre-heat batteries for Model 3 and Model Y vehicles equipped with LFP battery packs. That means those vehicles are able to get back on the road faster when it's extremely cold. Of course, Tesla still advises you to precondition before you arrive, saving drivers time and money.
Max de Zegher, Tesla’s Director of Charging, also commented on the new feature. Essentially, Tesla is inducing an AC (alternating) ripple current through the battery to warm it up. Keep in mind that Superchargers are DC charging. That means it is possible to get a cold-soaked LFP vehicle on the road 4x faster than before, assuming that it didn’t precondition at all and that it is in the worst-case scenario (below 0ºF).
In essence, Tesla is using some engineering magic to turn the circuits inside the LFP battery into an electric heater - and powering that heater through the Supercharger. An AC ripple current is a small oscillation in the DC charging current that generates heat through electrical resistance, warming up the battery. Those ripples are a byproduct of converting AC to DC and back - so Tesla is using the onboard charger to induce those ripples to warm up the battery. Definitely an innovative technique that’s really only possible with the versatility of the NACS connector.
We’re hoping Tesla can implement this across their full lineup of vehicles, but we’ll have to wait and see how it is trialed across LFP vehicles first and if it is even possible on vehicles with 2170 or 4680 battery packs.
Tesla launched two FSD updates simultaneously on Saturday night, and what’s most interesting is that they arrived on the same software version. We’ll dig into that a little later, but for now, there’s good news for everyone. For Hardware 3 owners, FSD V12.6.1 is launching to all vehicles, including the Model 3 and Model Y. For AI4 owners, FSD V13.2.4 is launching, starting with the Cybertruck.
FSD V13.2.4
A new V13 build is now rolling out to the Cybertruck and is expected to arrive for the rest of the AI4 fleet soon. However, this build seems to be focused on bug fixes. There are no changes to the release notes for the Cybertruck with this release, and it’s unlikely to feature any changes when it arrives on other vehicles.
FSD V12.6.1 builds upon V12.6, which is the latest FSD version for HW3 vehicles. While FSD V12.6 was only released for the redesigned Model S and Model X with HW3, FSD V12.6.1 is adding support for the Model 3 and Model Y.
While this is only a bug-fix release for users coming from FSD V12.6, it includes massive improvements for anyone coming from an older FSD version. Two of the biggest changes are the new end-to-end highway stack that now utilizes FSD V12 for highway driving and a redesigned controller that allows FSD to drive “V13” smooth.
It also adds speed profiles, earlier lane changes, and more. You can read our in-depth look at all the changes in FSD V12.6.
Same Update, Multiple FSD Builds
What’s interesting about this software version is that it “includes" two FSD updates, V12.6.1 for HW3 and V13.2.4 for HW4 vehicles. While this is interesting, it’s less special when you understand what’s happening under the hood.
The vehicle’s firmware and Autopilot firmware are actually completely separate. While a vehicle downloading a firmware update may look like a singular process, it’s actually performing several functions during this period. First, it downloads the vehicle’s firmware. Upon unpacking the update, it’s instructed which Autopilot/FSD firmware should be downloaded.
While the FSD firmware is separate, the vehicle can’t download any FSD update. The FSD version is hard-coded in the vehicle’s firmware that was just downloaded. This helps Tesla keep the infotainment and Autopilot firmware tightly coupled, leading to fewer issues.
What we’re seeing here is that HW3 vehicles are being told to download one FSD version, while HW4 vehicles are being told to download a different version.
While this is the first time Tesla has had two FSD versions tied to the same vehicle software version, the process hasn’t actually changed, and what we’re seeing won’t lead to faster FSD updates or the ability to download FSD separately. What we’re seeing is the direct result of the divergence of HW3 and HW4.
While HW3/4 remained basically on the same FSD version until recently, it is now necessary to deploy different versions for the two platforms. We expect this to be the norm going forward, where HW3 will be on a much different version of FSD than HW4. While each update may not include two different FSD versions going forward, we may see it occasionally, depending on which features Autopilot is dependent on.
Thanks to Greentheonly for helping us understand what happened with this release and for the insight into Tesla’s processes.
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