Solar Cannonball Attempt Is Going Slow, But Future Ones Will Be Faster

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If you’ve heard of the Cannonball Run, you’re probably either thinking of the 1981 film or the real-world records people have set driving from New York to Los Angeles. As of this writing, the fastest run I’m aware of was done in 25 hours and 39 minutes, with an average speed of 125 miles per hour. In other words, the words “slow” and “Cannonball” generally don’t belong in the same sentence, and probably not in the same paragraph, right?

But, it’s important to keep in mind that there are other kinds of Cannonball runs. The outright speed record decisively belongs to ICE right now, but because the all-out record is unofficial (and illegal to beat), there are also other unofficial variants for the record being set. Electric Cannonball records show us how fast an EV can get from the Red Ball Garage to Portofino Hotel and Marina. Other variants include the Diesel Cannonball, Double Transcontinental (NY to LA to NY), Motorcycle Cannonball, and Semi-Autonomous.

Basically, anybody can invent a new category of Cannonball and set a record for others to turn around and beat. Legal challenges, like the max MPG runs across the country, can be sanctioned by someone like Guinness, but outlaw speed runs are something even they won’t touch.

A relatively new category of Cannonball is the Solar Cannonball, or as one group named it, the “Cannonball Sun.” The first attempt I’m aware of to set an initial NY to LA record built a custom solar car that’s pretty similar to one you’d see at a university solar car competition. Their run attempt ended in mechanical and electronic failure in summer 2021. The vehicle died in Indiana, still over 2,000 miles from the finish line.

But, another EV enthusiast recent decided to take the challenge on using a completely different approach in a normal production EV.

Instead of building a university science vessel, Joe Kliewer decided to take the challenge on in a Tesla Model Y. Unlike the last team, he’s very likely to actually finish the challenge, but probably a lot slower than a custom solar vehicle would. He added a 5 kWh battery pack into the trunk, which he charges with 6.4 kilowatts of portable, lightweight solar panels. This 5 kWh buffer pack then charges the Model Y through a normal portable EVSE.

You can learn more about his setup at a video Munro Live made about the trip.

His plan is to charge up on solar (as long as it takes, he estimates two days), drive to the next stop, and then set the solar panels back up for another charge. His plan is to camp at the sites while the vehicles charges from the sun. He estimates this will take him 20 days.

Here’s a video where he goes through his first day’s run: (article continues after video)

Like all good Cannonball runs, it starts at the Red Ball Garage. He explains that he thought the story of Alex Roy’s cannonball run was a fictional story at first, but figured out part way through the book that it was a true story. So, that got his imagination going, which eventually led to this.

He left late at night so he could go slow in New York and other eastern states. The goal was to go to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia on the first night, going a total of 330 miles on the first charge. He decided to avoid using Autopilot or FSD Beta to lower energy consumption, but did a mix of them along the way to make driving at relatively slow speeds easier.

In the end, he fell a little short of being able to make it to the campground, but he used the vehicle’s buffer battery (which he charged ahead of the trip) to get a few more percent to make it over the last hill and get to the campground. He added 5% to the battery, and made it.

I’ve reached out to Joe to see if he made it to stop #2 or #3 yet (he appears to have struck camp on Friday), and will do some followup articles as the journey continues. Hopefully we’ll get some more detailed information. So, feel free to let me know what you’d like to know in the comments about the trip.

My Thoughts On This

His plan seems like a pretty solid one, but as the old saying goes, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” With solar power like this, any number of things can go wrong, and he’s already seeing that. Clouds, unexpected shade from vegetation, wind problems, and unexpected energy use on legs of the trip can all add up to delays. On a trip that’s already expected to take 20 days in good conditions, the trip could easily take 30+ days with enough small problems.

Another important thing I noticed here is that he appears to be relying on Tesla’s built-in trip planning software. While you’ve probably seen me bag on Tesla and its eccentric Technoprince or whatever he identifies as these days, one thing I can’t dispute is that Tesla does an excellent job with trip planning software. But, as good as this software is, it wasn’t designed for going unusual speeds with unusually heavy loads without the use of the Supercharger network. So, he’s obviously struggling as he tries to press Tesla’s software into service planning legs of this trip.

So, I’ve recommended that he tries to use A Better Routeplanner (ABRP) for this unusual task. It lets you set speeds, factor in unusual extra weight, and even build a custom energy use profile based on real driving data to predict future trips (reference figure). I think that if he had used ABRP, he would have had an easier time getting the first leg completed without needing to rely on his buffer battery for the last few miles.

If he has the patience and endurance to finish this trip out, the 20-something day record will likely keep getting broken. More efficient vehicles, larger solar arrays, and even charge-while-driving vehicles like the Aptera will probably cut the time down considerably over the next couple of years. Later, as solar technology improves, we’re likely to see even faster times.

This might seem like a silly exercise, but it can help drive technological advancement in the industry. Setting records leads to people figuring things out that they otherwise wouldn’t have. For example, trips to the moon didn’t directly benefit life for people on the ground, but the technologies invented to get there lead to everything from sunglasses to insulin pumps, so expect this new challenge to drive at least a little bit of innovation and change in the industry.

Featured image: screenshot from the embedded YouTube video, by Joe Kliewer.