Tesla Cybertruck gets $10,000 solar panel wrap that gives you more range

A company managed to wrap a Tesla Cybertruck with solar cells that power an on-board battery pack. It costs about $10,000. Is it worth it?

In 2017, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he pushed his engineers to look into integrating solar cells on Model 3, but they concluded that it wasn’t worth it at the time.

Solar cell efficiency has since improved, and Tesla developed its own expertise in embedding solar cells through the development of solar roof tiles.

It led to a surprise announcement.

After the launch of the Cybertruck, Musk surprised many when he said that Tesla’s new electric pickup truck would have a solar roof option that would add 15 miles of range per day.

A few years later, Tesla filed for a patent that showed the solar cells would be embedded inside the retractable tonneau cover.

However, Tesla has since brought the Cybertruck to market with no solar roofs or tonneau cover options. A year after the launch, there’s no word about solar options coming to the electric pickup truck.

But now a third party has decided to offer its own solution, and it is even more ambitious: an entire solar cell wrap for the Tesla Cybertruck.

California’s Sunflare Solar is a developer of flexible solar cells that can be used as a wrap. They claim to have wrapped the entire Cybertruck with it to produce up to 1.5 kW of solar power.

For the area, it is a fairly small amount of solar, but it could technically add a similar amount of range, around 15 miles, as Musk claimed the solar tonneau cover would.

The entire Cybertruck solar wrap costs $10,000 and comes with a 5 kW battery inverter to send the energy to the truck.

Electrek’s Take

I think this is cool, but it’s also gimmicky and comes with massive reliability risk. One of the main features of the Cybertruck is its rugged paintless stainless-steel exterior that you don’t care about scratching that much .

Now, it is replaced by expensive and somewhat fragile solar cells. I don’t know about that.

Also, as always, a car is not the optimal place for solar panels. I do like the idea of solar roofs on super-efficient EVs, like Aptera’s solar car, which can add significant range thanks to the efficiency, but if you want to power your electric vehicle with solar power, the best place to install your solar panels are on your home, not your car.

If you want to power your electric vehicle with solar power, we can help you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing with EnergySage. EnergySage is a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar – whether you’re a homeowner or renter. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20 to 30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.