Worksport has decided the nice flat surface on the back of a pickup truck is a great place for a solar array, so it's launching TerraVis, a photovoltaic, folding tonneau cover that takes power from the sun and stores it bed-mounted and removable batteries.
The TerraVis system will be built to fit existing trucks, and comprises a hard, sectioned, folding tonneau cover with up to and over a kilowatt's worth of solar panels built in. These feed a modular power bank unit with removable power units that can provide up to 4 kW of power through an AC inverter and a pair of 110-V outlets. Energy storage on each of these units appears to be around 1 kWh and could be very handy for camping or worksite use.
Worksport is also looking to fit the system to the upcoming range of fully electric pickups from Tesla, Rivian, Bollinger, GM, Ford and others, and in that capacity the solar panels will also be able to charge the car's main battery.
While the company says it "will be designed to provide meaningful power for the forthcoming electric trucks," in an absolutely ideal situation it'll probably produce somewhere around 5 kWh of energy in a day. According to European vehicle efficiency testing, that'll take a Tesla Model X P100D (which is presumably a fair bit smaller and more aerodynamic than a Cybertruck) around 22.2 km (13.7 mi).
So it's probably not going to meaningfully extend your range, but who knows, it could be a lifesaver in an extremely unlikely outback emergency situation, and it'll save you a little bit on charging. Heck, if you go out camping in the one spot for a week or two, maybe it'll be your ticket home.
The TerraVis system is in development, and the company expects to launch it "within 12-24 months of funding." Yes, it's calling for investments to get the system over the line.
Source: Worksport TerraVis
