A new feature for people who have substantially invested in Tesla’s ecosystem is the company’s most recent step.
There is now an in-app option for Tesla owners with home solar and a Powerwall charger to only use solar energy surplus to recharge their vehicles.
Drive on Sunshine was the name given to the setting by the carmaker when it first began to be released in May. Now more simply known as “Charge on Solar,” the setting is accessible to owners of newer Tesla models (2021 and up) in the United States and Canada. The choice appears as follows:
Numerous dreamers have begun to believe that solar energy and electric automobiles would merge as a result of the popularity of solar panels and the advent of electric vehicles.
The GM Sunmobile, a modified Corvette that supposedly harnessed enough solar energy to roll across a stage at a Chicago autoshow, is credited with introducing the solar-powered vehicle as we know it in the 1950s.
Since then, solar-roofed cars have advanced significantly (see: initiatives by Lightyear, Fisker, Karma, Toyota, and even Tesla), but they still aren’t being driven on public roads in significant numbers.
While this is going on, Tesla has long provided solar-powered charging through the use of residential solar panels and chargers, and the automaker’s Charge on Solar option appears to provide some drivers even more discretion over how they recharge.
