San Francisco resident Siraj Raval uses his 2018 Tesla Model 3 to mine Ethereum cryptocurrency. About this he reported in an interview with CNBC.
According to the crypto enthusiast, he launched free mining software on an Apple Mac mini M1 computer by connecting it to the car’s center console. Five graphics cards are powered by a Tesla battery.
Raval estimates that he mines on a Tesla battery for about 20 hours a day. The monthly cost of recharging the car, subject to its use and for its intended purpose, range from $ 30 to $ 60.
For additional income, an American never cashes cryptocurrency and transfers Ethereum to a custodian investment platform in order to receive interest income. In his assembly, he uses only used video cards purchased from eBay.
Siraj Raval claims to have earned between $ 400 and $ 800 per month during 2021, making Tesla mining profitable even during a bear market.
However, early hacker of the third Tesla model Thomas Somers questioned the possibility of such a high income.
“The best estimate I would give for the GPU hashrate in Model 3 would be around 7-10 MH / s. Currently at 10 MH / s, this will generate about $ 13.38 in revenue in Ethereum excluding any costs, ”Somers said.
He also criticized Raval’s approach, who had to hack the car’s internal firmware to get his power-hungry system up and running. Somers is convinced that this step was unnecessary.
“The car has already been built to deliver more than 100 kilowatts, and everything connected with it will be only a part of this power. There is no technical need to do what it says [Раваль]”- said the hacker.
The experts added that the profitability of Tesla mining will depend on when it is acquired by the owner. Since until 2017, cars could be charged for free at branded Supercharger stations.
K-Man YouTube author Chris Allessi also used a Tesla battery to mine altcoins in 2018 with an Antminer S9 connected to it. He estimated that during that period, in 60 hours of mining, he could have mined $ 10 worth of bitcoins, and that would have been profitable thanks to free electricity.
However, even with such a benefit, Alessi wonders why deliberately wear out a car that costs between $ 40,000 and $ 100,000. He calculated that now mining Bitcoin on Tesla can bring the owner at least $ 1 or $ 2.
Siraj Raval is not embarrassed by the skepticism of those around him. He hopes to make his Tesla a fully autonomous robotic taxi that earns cryptocurrency while not driving.
“The car will use revenues from transportation and cryptocurrency mining services to pay for its own expenses such as repairs, electricity costs and upgrades, as well as invest them in various assets,” Raval said.
Earlier, Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked about plans to turn self-driving cars into four-wheeled robots, but so far the concept has not been implemented.
Recall that in early June 2021, the Canadian car company Daymak announced the release of a three-wheeled electric vehicle with a mining option.
At the end of the month, the prototype machine began test mining for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies. At the beginning of 2022, the Daymak vehicle passed first test drive.
