Amonst the solar suggestions, I'm not seeing the suggestion of using the bed space on the Terra. A factory integrated solar tonneau or shell could basically provide off grid power. The huge attraction to this product aside from being American made is it's "multi-energy/fuel" options, especially for any off-grid, away from civilization activities. Not to mention, my car is all but forced to be outside the majority of daylight working hours. Why can't it charge without being tethered to a charging station? Looking at home panel standards by sqft, I'd bet there's around a 1Kw capacity if you could work out the roll or I guess in this case, stack away capability for when the height is needed for loads. Could it fold away between cab and bed or be at the front of the bed (it would need to be protected somehow). Solar paint and tint are very cool options, but seem very difficult from an engineering perspective. A solar sunroof or tonneau cover seem way more feasible. If you go with it, you
*could* call it the Smith cover
. (Microsoft has been commenting suggesters names into their code now for years. It's a good incentive for free suggestions) I'd definitely be a proud owner.
The SOLIS tonneau cover is such an offering. For an 8-foot bed, they suggest they can install a tonneau with 650 Watts of (ideal) power. To charge the vehicle they also need to have an auxiliary battery that powers a Level 1 EVSE. So the system works like this:
Solar —> Auxiliary Battery —> Level 1 EVSE —> Vehicle.
(Not coincidentally, this is how my system works, but I do my own solar instead of a tonneau cover.)
Ignoring losses, we can calculate how much an idealistic situation would work out:
In the United States, the average useful solar input is 4 hours per day. Obviously this is average, not every day. Some days will have more, some less. Some areas will have much more. Let’s use the national average of 4 hours per day.
650 Watts * 4 hours/day = 2.6 kWh / day.
365 days / year * 2.6 kWh / day = 950 kWh / year.
We expect somewhere between 120 and 180 kWh in the BEV. I think it’ll be closer to 150, but I don’t really know. I know they’ve said some numbers, but I’ll hold of on being certain. Let’s use 150 kWh.
949 kWh/year / 150 kWh/charge cycle = 6.33 charge cycles per year. ***for an 8-foot bed***
Assuming the 350 mile estimated range is accurate, that’s 2200 miles per year gained from the tonneau cover. ***for an 8-foot bed***
With a 5-foot bed, you get 5/8 or 63% of that. 6.33 * 0.63 = 4
63% of 2216 = ~1400 miles/year.
Cost considerations, if that’s the reason you would consider it:
Assume you’ll get a tonneau cover anyway, the decent ones are about $1500.
The SOLIS isn’t in production yet, but I would look at Telo’s suggested price for their factory-provided solar tonneau cover, which is $1500 more than the non-solar version. The bed is 60” long and 73” wide, so slightly smaller than the Terra’s bed. Let’s round up to $2000 (more) for the solar tonneau vs the non-solar tonneau. However, that doesn’t include the cost of the battery. Add another $2k for that.
For the first year, you pay $2.85/mile gained (in somewhat ideal conditions for the average US resident). But after the second year, the cost of the tonneau cover drops to ~$1.40/mile. After the 10th year, it drops to $0.29/mile. This is significantly more expensive energy than what you usually get. I pay about $0.02/mile for my Lightning when using grid power at home.
I don’t think the SOLIS auxiliary battery is close to the right size and would upsize to at least 5 kWh, so that would add cost.
Some people would argue that’s not worth the cost. Of course, some of those people would spend $5k on wheels and tires upgrades that they’ll never make use of or some people will spend $10k on an extended range battery but won’t take the truck on a road trip. What you spend your money on is up to you, so I wouldn’t let people use the cost argument to dissuade you from getting what you want to get—unless they know your financial situation and you’re planning something truly foolish.
I use my system to extend the range while I’m camping. I can get about 30-50 miles extra range—depending on the specifics—while boondocking for a long weekend. This enables me to get to some of my favorite camping sites that are just out of range of my 320 mile Lightning. But I’m in the US desert southwest where we get 8+ hours of good sun in the winter and 14 hours of good sun in the summer. It isn’t about cost, but about enabling something I enjoy doing: getting far from civilization. Even an extra 15-20 miles farther is a bonus and is worth it to me.
