Weekend Project: I added a solar panel to my electric mini-truck to charge from the sun
It’s back! The electric mini-truck that keeps on giving has another fun trick up its sleeve. With a bit of DIY magic, I was able to outfit my Chinese mini-truck with a solar panel that can trickle charge it from the sun.
If you’re aren’t familiar with this unassuming little mini-truck, then here’s the background: I found it on Alibaba back in 2021 and paid the Chinese vendor it came from $2,000 to make it mine.
It went through a long saga of being shipped to the US, which cost slightly more than the truck itself. But it eventually arrived in Florida where it’s been living out a hard working yet rewarding life on my parent’s ranch. There it mainly serves as a work truck on the property, though sometimes it heads out just to delight the neighbors. Everyone loves this quirky little thing.
The electric drive means that it is quiet, largely maintenance-free, and doesn’t require any trips to the gas station to fill up.
That last one is important since it isn’t even street legal, and hence why it lives its life off-road as a work truck.
The fairly large (for a mini-truck) 6,000 Wh battery generally provided around a week or two of use before needing to be recharged from a typical 120V wall outlet.
That was fine, though it was a bit annoying to wait all day for it to charge.
So I decided to try to take advantage of the plentiful sun that bakes its roof rack each day while it sits outside. To do so, I got a small solar panel to mount onto the roof rack.
I figured if I could just let it trickle charge while it’s sitting out in the sun, then I wouldn’t actually need to plug it in for a big charge of the LiFePO4 battery nearly as often.
You can follow along with the process of installing the solar panel on the truck in a video I filmed of the project, or just keep reading for the details.
The largest panel I could find that didn’t extend past the existing roof rack was a 50W Renogy solar panel. Not exactly huge, but it would be just fine for trickle charging. Assuming around 35W of solar energy (they don’t call Florida the Sunshine State for nothin’!) for 8 hours a day, I figured I’d get nearly 300 Wh of trickle charging per day.
Considering the truck only drives a few miles per day while it stays within a 10 acre ranch, that would probably account for around half of its daily use. It wouldn’t take it completely off-grid, but it should stretch out the time between charges by around double. And the panel would be small enough that it wouldn’t impact anything else on the truck or extend past the confines of the existing roof rack.
I was able to mount the solar panel by using PVC pipe to create struts across the roof rack. After painting them black, they basically looked like the existing steel tubes and make the installation appear more like a factory job.
The pipes also allowed me to angle the panel slightly, meaning I can park the truck facing north when I’m not using it and get a nice southernly angle for higher solar efficiency.
To increase the roughly 18VDC coming out of the solar panel to match the charge voltage needed by my 60V battery in the mini-truck, I used a solar charge controller. It’s the same one I used in a previous solar electric bike project, and it’s way more powerful than I need. But the extra power means that if I ever want to create a carport or other installation with a few larger solar panels on it, I could plug them in directly to the truck and get a higher charging rate when parked near the solar array.
The actual process of connecting everything is pretty darn simple. The solar panels plug into the charge controller, which itself plugs into the battery’s charging port. I was able to access the charging port by using a spare plug under the mini-truck’s charging cap (I still don’t know why the mini-truck came with two different charging ports wired to the same circuit, but I was happy it did). The most difficult part was just peeling back the interior lining of the truck’s cab to hide the wiring that ran up to the solar panel.
With the installation complete, testing showed that in most conditions I could get between 30-35W of power. At one point I reached 45W when the sun was its highest point in the sky, though 35W was a more realistic figure on average.
Since the solar panel installation, I’ve found that the charging period has basically doubled.
If my family charged the truck around once every 10 days or so in the past, now we can get away with doing it once every three weeks or so.
A panel that was large enough to completely charge the truck would be nice, but I didn’t want one so big that it could get in the way of the bed since we use the truck nearly daily for hauling things around the property.
The bed also has a hydraulic ram that lifts it up about 45-degrees in dump truck form, and so I couldn’t have a panel extend too far back.
I’d say that the project was quite successful, and it demonstrates that solar charging on vehicles can be effective if the vehicle is low enough power (my truck is around 5 hp).
Conventional solar electric cars can’t really compare, since a day of sun just isn’t enough to fill a reasonable portion of their massive batteries. But if you’ve got a small EV like a mini-truck or an e-bike, especially one that doesn’t need to go too far each day and generally stays in one area like this, you can actually make an impact even with a relatively small solar panel.
For anyone who ever wanted to try a DIY solar charging project like this, I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot. It’s surprisingly simple and easy to do. It’s also hard to describe the rewarding feeling of stepping back to admire your work afterwards, watching your device “magically” charging without being plugged in. Or at least, without being plugged in to the wall.
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Genesis is preparing to shake things up with its most luxurious SUV yet, the GV90. Thanks to a new patent filing, we are getting a detailed look at how its Rolls-Royce-style coach doors will work.
New patent reveals Genesis GV90 coach door system
When Genesis first unveiled the full-size SUV at the NY Auto Show last March, it wasn’t the stunning design or advanced tech that caught everyone’s attention. It was the coach doors.
Although we were worried it wouldn’t make it to the production model, like many concepts, the Genesis GV90 will be offered with coach doors.
The ultra-luxe electric SUV was first caught with coach doors earlier this year on a car carrier in South Korea. Just last month, the GV90 was spotted in California with a hinge at the rear to open the coach doors.
After several new patents were filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for new door latching devices, we are getting a sneak peek at how they are expected to work.
The patents, titled “Cinching Device For Door Latches in Vehicle,” and “Door Latch Device for Vehicles,” give a pretty detailed explanation of how the Genesis GV90’s coach doors will operate. The “Door Latch Device” uses a door striker on the lower side of the door, which is opened or closed by a hinge unit.
Unlike traditional doors, which use the B-pillar for support, the device is attached directly to the door itself, allowing for hinge-like movement.
The cinching device works in a similar way. It’s also attached to the door and part of the vehicle. However, unlike most of its kind, Genesis found a way to use a single cinching device to control multiple units. Again, the device is used for B-pillarless doors that swing open.
Genesis already said that B-pillarless coach doors are now feasible in production vehicles. The patent reveals a glimpse into how the luxury automaker could make it a reality.
Although the Genesis GV90 is expected to be offered with coach doors, they will likely not be standard. Other variants, with traditional door handles, have also been spotted testing in the US and South Korea.
Genesis is expected to launch the GV90 in mid-2026. It will be built at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant in South Korea. The flagship Genesis SUV is scheduled to debut on Hyundai’s new eM platform, which the company said will “provide 50% improvement in driving range.” It will also be loaded with the latest technology, software, connectivity, and Level 3 or higher autonomous driving capabilities.
Source: USPTO
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Environment
Podcast: Tesla Model YL, more Tesla probes and lawsuits, new Nissan Leaf pricing, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the launch of the Tesla Model YL, more Tesla probes and lawsuits, new Nissan Leaf pricing, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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July EV sales looked strong on the surface, but the looming impact of tariffs and the end of EV tax credits reveal a more complicated picture, according to Cars.com’s new Industry Insights report.
New-vehicle sales jumped 6.6% year-over-year, even as dealer inventory fell for the first time since 2022. Much of the spike came from a “buy now” mindset as shoppers raced to lock in deals before tariffs and policy changes drive prices higher. For EVs in particular, the looming end of the federal $7,500 tax credit on September 30 added another layer of urgency.
EV inventory growth is slowing – for now
Shoppers technically have more EV options than ever, with 75 models on the market – a 27% jump from last year. But new EV inventory growth has slowed to just 9% year-over-year, the lowest since before the Inflation Reduction Act revived federal incentives. Analysts expect another wave of buying before the tax credit vanishes, but after that, higher prices could cool demand, especially with most new EVs still priced in the premium-to-luxury bracket.
Tariffs set to push prices higher
Automakers absorbed an estimated $12 billion in tariff costs in the second quarter alone to keep sticker prices steady. That’s not sustainable, and once those costs flow into 2026 models, EV buyers could be facing thousands more on the same car.
At current 25% tariff levels, the average new-vehicle price could jump from $48,000 to $54,400 – about $6,400 more. Even if trade deals trim tariffs to 15%, buyers would still see increases of more than $4,000. That’s a huge gap compared to household incomes, which grew only 1% last year.
The used EV market is heating up
While new EV prices are bracing for impact, the used EV market is gaining momentum. Inventory is up 33% year-over-year, while average prices dipped 2% to $36,000. Affordable used EVs under $25,000 – including the Tesla Model 3, Nissan Leaf, and Chevy Bolt EV – are selling 20% faster than average. Many also qualify for the $4,000 used-EV tax credit, which, like the new EV credit, ends September 30.
Read more: Global EV sales hit 10.7M in 2025 – Europe surges, US stalls
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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