Tesla Owners Mine Crypto Using Power From Their Idle Cars

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 makes some incredible claims regarding a new method for 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 on his 2018 Tesla Model 3. He has also connected Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to his 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 Feasible?

Another Tesla owner, Wisconsin-based Chris Allessi, began fiddling with his Tesla in 2018. He connected a bitcoin Antminer mining rig to his car’s battery, using an inverter like Raval to convert the battery’s direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). The Antminer rig uses AC to operate. Allessi has also used Tesla’s web browser to mine for 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 charge his vehicle every 320 miles and mines for 20 hours every day. He uses a platform called “Midas.Investments” that grants him a 23% Annual Percentage Yield on his investment in altcoins, protecting him from market volatility. In 2021, Raval claimed to have made  $400 to $800 a month. He believes that he can make Tesla an autonomous robotaxi that makes money through crypto whenever 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.