Retractable tonneau cover... still going to have solar panels?

[MartinAustin]

I can't help but think they've abandoned the solar power generating aspect of the retractable tonneau cover.

Does anyone else agree? Haven't heard anything about it since Elon stood on it during the "Jay Leno's Garage" episode. All we've seen are open beds and solid black covers since then - and zero mentions of solar.

Tesla were reticent to include solar roofs on vehicles in years gone by, and seeing the solar tonneau on the Cybertruck was a welcome change. But... perhaps it is gone again. That said, a famous Tesla tenet is that final production vehicles are always better than the prototypes. I guess I really don't know

 

[Ogre]

Solar panels were never more than a couple tweets by Elon. Lots of us would love to see them, but they've never been an advertised feature.

It's not so much they are "Gone" as they have never really been there.

 

[scottf200]

Personally, I think there is a very slim chance of it having one as it will add so so little range on such a large battery (100-150 kWh?) and 400+Wh/mi car. It really only keep the 12v topped off and potentially run a venting fan. I just don't see it. Perhaps (likely) there is a thread that calculated the size of that cover and the potential energy it could get in optimal conditions/angles.

 

[ThomasD]

We don't even know if the panels on the prototype were operational. I was always curious how the panels and wiring would hold up after years of rolling up and down the cover.

 

[MartinAustin]

I just checked the wayback machine... the Tesla website doesn't have the world "solar" on the Cybertruck page. But it does show pictures of what appear to be solar panels on the tonneau cover, even up until today.