Tesla adds ‘Charge on Excess Solar’ function in app to get clean range at home

By Joey Klender

Posted on March 15, 2023

Tesla is going to let owners of its electric vehicles charge their cars using excess solar energy that has accumulated throughout the day and can’t be stored in a Powerwall, coding in its smartphone app seems to reveal.

“Plug in your vehicle at home during the day to charge using the excess clean energy generated by your solar system,” an update in the Tesla app’s coding says. “Set your charge limits and location and tell your vehicle when and where to charge only from excess solar.” (h/t @longzheng)

The app also will state that owners can “set your vehicle’s battery to charge as usual from any available sources for enough daily driving range. Then reserve part of your vehicle’s battery to charge only when excess solar is available.”

The feature will utilize only clean energy accumulated from a solar array to charge the vehicle, which aligns with the description of the feature: “Drive on Sunshine. Get the cleanest charge for your car.”

– String Changes pic.twitter.com/PpEhHtOl4J

— Tesla App Updates (iOS) (@Tesla_App_iOS) March 15, 2023

The feature is set to launch with version 4.19.0, which was launched just one hour ago as of 7:30 PM on the East Coast.

The function will allow owners to charge their vehicles by using only solar energy, which is renewable and will ensure the car will be using no fossil fuels throughout the entire charging and driving process.

In an effort to make the entire process of owning an electric vehicle as sustainable as possible, Tesla is likely rolling out this feature to alleviate any use of fossil fuels or related projects for owners who are more interested in having a clean charge at home. When there is more energy being generated than the house can consume, it will then be used to charge the vehicle.

With the Powerwall, excess energy is utilized from the production of energy from solar panels and stored in the battery.

Last week, Tesla began offering Powerwall as a standalone product once again, marking the first time in nearly two years that customers can purchase the battery storage system without also buying a solar array.

Recently, Apple adopted a similar process with the iPhone by allowing owners to turn on a setting known as “Clean Energy Charging,” which will only charge the phone when the grid is operating on renewable resources.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Tesla adds ‘Charge on Excess Solar’ function in app to get clean range at home