Tesla Takes a 9400 Mile, Solar-powered Road Trip

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A team of scientists from Australia and the UK are embarking on an epic, 9400-mile Tesla road trip across some of the most remote regions of the world– and they’re doing it on 100% solar power.

The project is called “Charge Around Australia,” and the team hopes to get Aussies to think about new ways to prevent climate change while showing off the range and flexibility of the electric Tesla sedan. Out in Australia’s most remote regions– where the scorching temperatures, vast distances, and lack of water simply prohibit comfortable human habitation– the project’s roll-up solar panels will be put to the ultimate test.

“This is actually an ideal test bed to give us information about how we would go about using and powering technology in other remote locations, for example, in space,” said, Paul Dastoor, inventor of the printed solar panels that will be used to keep the Tesla topped up on the trip. “(The) community is seeking these sorts of answers to the problems it’s being presented with, day in, day out, around climate change.”

Tesla + Solar Charger

Reuters.

The innovative, roll-out solar panels powering the team’s Tesla Model 3 are made from lightweight, laminated PET plastic (think: plastic drinking bottles) that Dastoor claims can be made at a cost of less than $10 a square meter on standard commercial printers. The one that printed the panels shown here was previously tasked with printing wine labels for a local vineyard!

The team plans to visit about 70 schools during the course of their 84-day Tesla journey, and hopes to give students a taste of what the future may hold.

You can learn more about the project by watching the video, below. Once you’re done, let us know what you think of these budget-priced solar cells in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!