One Tesla owner wants to turn his car into a robotaxi that earns crypto when it is not being driven.
Tesla owner and mining enthusiast Siraj Raval is making incredible claims about a new method of mining crypto. He can run free mining software on his Apple Mac Mini M1. The MAC is powered by an inverter that connects to the 12V socket of its 2018 Tesla Model 3. It has also connected graphics processing units (GPUs) to its car battery.
Mining is the process whereby new bitcoins are created in an energy-intensive way, and transactions are validated on the blockchain. The main overhead in bitcoin mining is the cost of electricity, according to Alejandro de la Torre, a bitcoin miner. “If it is cheaper doing it through an electric vehicle, then so be it,” he said.
Is it really doable?
Chris Allessi, another Wisconsin-based Tesla owner, started playing with his Tesla in 2018. He connected a Bitcoin Antminer mining rig to his car battery, using an inverter like Raval to convert current. direct (DC) from the battery to alternating current (AC). The Antminer platform uses AC to operate. Alessi also used Tesla’s web browser to mine Monero.
Allessi was fortunate in that he received free, unlimited supercharging for the lifetime of his vehicle. He purchased the car before 2017. In 2018, he could make $10 in 60 hours. Now he sees no sense in mining bitcoin due to the price increase and the obsolescence of his equipment. “In the same amount of time, with identical equipment, I’m probably looking at $1 or $2 worth of bitcoin,“ he said. He doesn’t mine anymore.
Robotaxi on the cards?
Raval pays $ 10 to $ 15 to recharge his vehicle every 320 miles and mines for 20 hours each day. He uses a platform called “Midas.Investments” which grants him an annual percentage return of 23% on his investment in altcoins, protecting him from market volatility. In 2021, Raval claimed to have earned between $ 400 and $ 800 per month. He believes he can turn Tesla into an autonomous robotaxi that makes money from crypto when it’s not being driven.
Whit Gibbs, CEO, and founder of Compass, a professional mining company, says that all the puzzle pieces are there to make mining work. “You have a power source, you have space, you can add cooling. There’s certainly enough power provided by the battery to fire up an ASIC and run it,“ said Gibbs.
