What will be your first F-150 Lightning upgrades?

[astricklin]

Actually, for my use case, this might make sense. I read that the solar bed cover will cover 30% of the usual driving range, which is about 40 miles. 40 miles x 30% = 12 miles. My normal daily driving is 8 - 10 miles (I live very close to work and I have the worst use case for ICE...I have to drive very aggressively just trying to get the engine temperature up).

If, and that's a big if, you are actually getting a full 1kw out of the panels as stated on the website for the above product, then ya you'll probably get about 15-16 miles of range in 8 hours, and that's if you're parked in full sun the whole time. Any part of the panels being shaded will greatly reduce the output.
I'm not an expert on solar panels but from what I see available, there's no way you are getting 1000 watts out of anything the side of the truck bed. From what I can see, you'll probably be able to get 500 watts max out of the entire surface area of the bed

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[JPro]

I have seen this before. If it is affordable, I would definitely be interested. However, I don't understand why it needs the roll bar thing up against the cab. I would want it flat like a normal cover. Any guesses why this roll bar is necessary?

My guess is it supports the segments when they are folded up so you can use the full bed, granted it will be blocking the back window.

 

[MickeyAO]

If, and that's a big if, you are actually getting a full 1kw out of the panels as stated on the website for the above product, then ya you'll probably get about 15-16 miles of range in 8 hours, and that's if you're parked in full sun the whole time. Any part of the panels being shaded will greatly reduce the output.
I'm not an expert on solar panels but from what I see available, there's no way you are getting 1000 watts out of anything the side of the truck bed. From what I can see, you'll probably be able to get 500 watts max out of the entire surface area of the bed

I'm also not an expert on solar panels, but I live in South Texas...and my lab where I park daily is in the middle of a solar field...and we also test solar panels/storage batteries for solar fields at the Energy Storage Technology Center (after viewing the data from the portion we control, I kind of have an idea on what is possible at this particle location)...and I guess you glossed over the part where I say I drive 8-10 miles per day...but go ahead and crap on anyone who might think this might be viable telling them why it won't

 

[GarageMahal]

I'm also not an expert on solar panels, but I live in South Texas...and my lab where I park daily is in the middle of a solar field...and we also test solar panels/storage batteries for solar fields at the Energy Storage Technology Center (after viewing the data from the portion we control, I kind of have an idea on what is possible at this particle location)...and I guess you glossed over the part where I say I drive 8-10 miles per day...but go ahead and crap on anyone who might think this might be viable telling them why it won't

Assuming 2mi/kwh at 500W for 6 full hours of good sun we are looking at about 6 miles of charge. I would not complain about that myself but not sure what the cost will be to determine a real ROI. These are very conservative numbers in my opinion and getting above 10 miles of charge seems possible.

I have never seen an option for an ICE truck to generate its own fuel and I look forward to having that option. Sure hope the pricing is good

 

[sotek2345]

Assuming 2mi/kwh at 500W for 6 full hours of good sun we are looking at about 6 miles of charge. I would not complain about that myself but not sure what the cost will be to determine a real ROI. These are very conservative numbers in my opinion and getting above 10 miles of charge seems possible.

I have never seen an option for an ICE truck to generate its own fuel and I look forward to having that option. Sure hope the pricing is good

Given what is involved, I would expect the price to be in the $1,500 to $2,000 range. Higher if extra hardware needs to be added to the truck to allow charging of the high voltage battery from the array.

Break even for cost in 10 to 15 years. (Edit: ignoring cost of money -with cost of money you never break even)

 

[Kiggulak]

I was planning on adding a hard folding tonneau cover, all weather floor mats. Now we'll have to see which comes first my Lightning or the Workforce Solar cover, and what the price comes out to be on the workforce cover and their replaceable battery rail. Vs the 80amp EVSE charger and Sunrun's inverter costs for the home backup hookup. Might just grab the portable unit off the rail and use it to power the fridge/freezer as needed. Also ability to self charge after a hurricane out in the sun is very appealing.

 

[GarageMahal]

Given what is involved, I would expect the price to be in the $1,500 to $2,000 range. Higher if extra hardware needs to be added to the truck to allow charging of the high voltage battery from the array.

Break even for cost in 10 to 15 years. (Edit: ignoring cost of money -with cost of money you never break even)

I would be all over this at $2000 considering good tonneau covers start around $1000.

ROI on $1000 is very subjective here and depends how you want to look at.

If you go by how much "gas money" you saved it pays back quite quickly. For fun, lets assume 10 miles per day for 15 days per months replacing a 15MPG truck paying $3 per gallon for gas:
10 * 15 / 15 * 3 = $30 per month "savings". That works out to under 3 years to break even. Of course this isn't the only way to measure this (and is a rosy argument I would use to convince the boss).

Using the same 10 miles per day (5Kwh) assumption but with electricity cost of $0.15 per Kwh instead:
5 * 15 * .15 = $11.25 per month which is still under 8 years.

So many assumptions... not the least of which is the price of electricity which is constantly climbing where I live.

As a current owner of a solar system I have learned one thing for certain: slow and steady makes money. What doesn't look like much on a daily basis adds up to real money over time.

P.S. When I first heard of solar bed covers I thought no way that would ever make sense but looking at the math now it might work with an electric truck. Can't wait until we get real world data on these.

 

[sotek2345]

I would be all over this at $2000 considering good tonneau covers start around $1000.

ROI on $1000 is very subjective here and depends how you want to look at.

If you go by how much "gas money" you saved it pays back quite quickly. For fun, lets assume 10 miles per day for 15 days per months replacing a 15MPG truck paying $3 per gallon for gas:
10 * 15 / 15 * 3 = $30 per month "savings". That works out to under 3 years to break even. Of course this isn't the only way to measure this (and is a rosy argument I would use to convince the boss).

Using the same 10 miles per day (5Kwh) assumption but with electricity cost of $0.15 per Kwh instead:
5 * 15 * .15 = $11.25 per month which is still under 8 years.

So many assumptions... not the least of which is the price of electricity which is constantly climbing where I live.

As a current owner of a solar system I have learned one thing for certain: slow and steady makes money. What doesn't look like much on a daily basis adds up to real money over time.

P.S. When I first heard of solar bed covers I thought no way that would ever make sense but looking at the math now it might work with an electric truck. Can't wait until we get real world data on these.

Yeah - it all depends on how you spin the numbers. You an get Tonneau covers for under $200, so it really is a ~$1,800 (guesstimate) premium for the panels (no word on how good of a cover it will be in general.

You can also look at cost of money. $1,800 invested in the stock market (assume conservative 7% rate of return), would give you $126/yr. These panels, assuming 5kwhr/day (very very best case) and your number of $0.13 per kwhr would make ~$237 per year, assuming you have 365 days of full sun every year (no rain, no seasonal changes, never park in the shade, it never gets dirty, etc. That is a net benefit of ~$110 per year. So you are looking at 16 years to pay back the original investment at which point you start making a little money - assuming the panels are still fully functional and operating at 100% after that time.

More real world number mean you never get your money back. I can see some outside use cases for overlanding or other off the grid applications, but for daily use there are much better ways to spend your money.

 

[Guava]

Same as I do with all other cars, intake and exhaust.

 

[corradoborg]

Same as I do with all other cars, intake and exhaust.

Oh, yeah! Gotta make it free-flowing to expel all those burnt electrons! ?

 

[Silenze]

My first upgrade will be the gasoline engine powered range extender mounted in the bed.

 

[Maljr1980]

I’m just waiting for Henessey to build the world’s first LS swapped lightning making over 1000 HP.

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