Tesla showed off a solar-powered trailer with a built-in Starlink antenna today, which seems to be a good assistant for doomsday survival, but don’t get too excited, this thing cannot be bought with money.
Using solar energy to charge electric vehicles is the dream of many people but is not an easy solution to be seen. Perhaps this new Tesla concept, the king of electric vehicles, can break through this predicament?
At a creative exhibition held in Hannover, Germany, Tesla revealed its concept "solar charging trailer." The idea is very simple. If solar panels are installed on the roof but they does not provide enough power to charge the vehicle, then adding a whole trailer of solar panels can generate more power. Coupled with a Starlink satellite antenna, this setup can be used in the wild to provide electricity and internet.
However, reality is still barebones. According to the size of the solar trailers on display, even if each tile has an efficiency of 300W (overestimated), the total power of the entire trailer is only 2.7kW. Calculated based on 8 hours of perfect sunshine, it provides about 80 kilometers of continuous travel. In addition, if you are driving, you cannot fully deploy the solar panels. If you simply drag it forward, power generation will drop by one third but the vehicle load will increase significantly.
Obviously, the trailer design is more like a mobile solar generator, allowing the owner to move to a certain point and start providing electricity, rather than a perpetual motion machine that generates electricity while driving. Tesla did not explain much about this trailer. At present, Tesla is more likely using it to attract people in the exhibition hall and this is really effective because the employees in the booth next door are also crowded into Tesla's booth.
Another more practical design was also shown, which is the Model Y with a structured 4680 battery. It can be seen from the above picture that the 4680 battery is really huge but spacing in the battery pack is more efficient. However, only the Texas factory can produce Model Ys with the 4680 battery. Other battery suppliers are still trying to catch up, hoping to mass produce by the end of the year.
Although it is only for demonstration purposes, this solar trailer also shows us how difficult it is to make the car run entirely on solar energy. Even with so many power generation panels installed, the power that can be provided is still very limited.
（Image：Tesla_Adri）