The new Polydrops camper appears to match the Cybertruck aesthetic perfectly
Dwell
Tesla has unveiled a solar, range extending trailer that it doesn't plan to produce any time soon. With good reason.
Here's my take on this concept.
Solar panels are not enough. It might be cloudy when you want to travel. Instead of solar panels, how about an additional battery? You could store a couple of hundred miles of range in the trailer and have storage to boot (or a bed).
In Tesla’s concept the solar panels need to be extended on the front, back, and sides of the trailer in order to have enough surface area to harvest energy. You can’t do that while you're driving down the road.
If you truly want to use solar energy for travel, you need to plan to stop in a sunny area during peak sunlight in order to extend the panels and soak up solar energy when the sun is high in the sky. This strategy will slow you down if you’re traveling.
A better solution is a trailer with some luggage space and, say, 300 miles of battery capacity. The trailer shouldn't be so boxy with sharp corners. It should be aerodynamic to decrease air resistance and increase range. The solar panels might be worthwhile at a campsite if there's no place to plug in, but the money you'd save on electricity a few days a year wouldn't be enough to justify the cost of the solar panels. Panels give a good return on investment only when they're soaking up rays every time the sun is shining.
Finally, the trailer should be available for rental. People shouldn't have to buy an expensive gizmo that they'll use only a few times a year.
On the other hand, folks who want to buy the trailer should be able to attach the trailer to their home in such a way that the trailer would serve as an emergency generator during power outages, essentially a PowerWall on wheels.
And the trailer should also be able to connect with the Tesla virtual distributed power plant concept so that both Tesla and the owner of the trailer can earn some money during times of peak power demand. That would also help the environment because the power company wouldn't need to use natural gas or worse to generate electricity during the peak demand times.
Unfortunately, Teslas that have been produced already don't have trailer hitches with high power electric connectors to accommodate a range extending trailer. Unless such a trailer hitch can be retrofitted at a reasonable price, there's not going to be much of a market for range extending trailers.
The new Polydrops camper appears to match the Cybertruck aesthetic perfectly
Dwell
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Your Tesla is packed with features designed to improve your comfort and safety, and Cabin Overheat Protection (COP) is a prime example. While all the materials and equipment in your car are built to withstand the summer heat, this feature prevents the interior from reaching excessively high temperatures when parked.
But what does it do, how does it work, and when should you really use it? Let’s dive in.
What is Cabin Overheat Protection?
Cabin Overheat Protection is a climate control feature that activates automatically after you’ve left your vehicle. Its primary goal is to keep the interior cabin temperature from soaring on hot days, and helping to keep the surfaces humans touch most often - like the seats, steering wheel, and screen- at a more manageable temperature.
You can also use Cabin Overheat Protection to protect temperature-sensitive items from excessive temperatures; however, its primary goal is to prevent the cabin from becoming excessively hot.
For moderate durations, Cabin Overheat Protection can actually reduce the amount of energy spent cooling your vehicle, as it’s more efficient to maintain a temperature rather than letting cooling it down from 130ºF. However, it most cases, Cabin Overheat Protection will use additional energy.
It is important to note what Cabin Overheat Protection is not. It isn’t designed to protect people or pets. For that, you’ll want to use Tesla’s dedicated “Dog Mode” or “Keep Climate On” features, which offer more robust control over the internal temperature. You can read a comparison of the major climate features here.
Enable Cabin Overheat Protection
Tesla offers several options for cabin overheat protection, allowing you to choose when and how it operates. You can enable it in your vehicle or through the Tesla app:
In the Vehicle: Navigate to Controls > Safety > Cabin Overheat Protection.
Via the Tesla App: Go to the Climate, swipe up, and toggle Cabin Overheat Protection.
Cabin Overheat Protection Settings
When enabling COP, you can pick from three settings:
Off: The system is completely disabled and will not activate when the vehicle is parked. This is the default option.
No A/C: If the interior temperature exceeds your set threshold (see below), your vehicle will only use the HVAC fan to circulate outside air through the cabin. This helps cool the vehicle since outside air is often cooler than the inside, which can easily reach 130ºF or higher. This is our recommended setting, as it helps prevent the cabin from getting too hot in most situations and uses minimal energy.
On: If the interior temperature exceeds your set threshold, the system will use both the fan and the air conditioning to actively cool the cabin down to and maintain it below that threshold. This is the most effective cooling option, but it also uses a significant amount of energy.
You can also set a Temperature Threshold for activating Cabin Overheat Protection. Tesla provides three options: 90°F (30°C), 95°F (35°C), or 100°F (40°C). Cabin Overheat Protection will attempt to maintain your vehicle at the threshold while it is active.
Battery Drain
The main reason you might choose to leave Cabin Overheat Protection off is its energy impact, which will not only increase your costs but also reduce your vehicle’s range. Ultimately, this feature keeps your vehicle’s HVAC system—or at least its fans—running to help cool the cabin.
While the No A/C mode consumes minimal energy, the On mode (which uses air conditioning) will noticeably drain the battery, particularly on hot days when the system works harder to maintain the set temperature.
The amount of energy COP uses will vary greatly based on your selected activation temperature, the exterior temperature, and whether your vehicle is parked in the sun. However, in general, the energy impact will be minimal if COP is set to No A/C, and significant if it’s set to On.
As a reminder, Cabin Overheat Protection will automatically shut off after 12 hours of operation or if the vehicle’s state of charge falls below 20%. COP and several other Tesla features will increase the cost of using your vehicle. We recently reviewed all Tesla features that continue to use power while your vehicle is parked.
Is Cabin Overheat Protection Necessary?
This is a common question, and the answer is no, Cabin Overheat Protection is not essential. Tesla vehicles, including their interior components, are designed and tested to withstand the typical automotive temperature cycles, including both hot and cold. While keeping the cabin cooler could potentially provide some marginal benefit in preventing the leather or other surfaces from degrading, the primary purpose is for the comfort of the occupants when they return.
What About Extreme Cold?
We’ve talked about heat, but what about extreme cold? Cabin Overheat Protection, as the name implies, deals with heat and will not prevent your vehicle from getting too cold. For cold weather, your Tesla has different mechanisms.
Your vehicle will automatically use energy to keep its high-voltage battery within a safe temperature range in extreme cold, whether or not you’re in the car. This helps protect the battery’s health and ensures you’ll have a minimal level of performance even if you enter the vehicle without preconditioning.
For optimal comfort in cold weather, preconditioning your vehicle will warm up the cabin and battery for improved performance.
Cabin Overheat Protection is a valuable feature that improves the comfort of your Tesla, particularly during hot weather. However, it’s not designed to improve the lifespan of your vehicle's interior, and it should not be used for people or pets (use Keep Climate or Dog Mode for those situations).
If you're parked in extreme heat and have sensitive items in the car, this could be an ideal use case. Use Keep Climate if you need to keep the items below 80°F, or Cabin Overheat Protection if you’re just looking to protect them from excessive temperatures.
Tesla’s recent focus on expanding and vertically integrating its battery production is beginning to take global steps, starting with a battery recycling and service center in South Australia. In Marion, a suburb of Adelaide, the council recently voted in favor of a proposal that would see contaminated public land developed and leased to Tesla.
The move promises local jobs and environmental remediation but has garnered a lot of public debate focused on Elon’s moves outside his role as CEO.
The proposal involves a site that’s currently unusable for recreation due to chemical contamination. A local developer plans to acquire and remediate the land, constructing a new facility specifically for Tesla. This site would reportedly serve two purposes: recycling old lithium-ion batteries and serving as a Tesla Service Center.
Tesla’s Commitment to Recycling
Tesla recently announced its intention to ramp up its battery recycling and repurposing efforts. During the Q1 2025 Earnings Call, Tesla’s executives highlighted substantial progress. Tesla had recycled enough materials in Q1 2025 to build approximately 21,000 Model Y RWD vehicles, representing a 136% year-over-year increase from Q1 2024.
Dedicated regional hubs like this one would be a logical next step in expanding the recycling loop and furthering Tesla’s vertical integration while also reducing its reliance on new materials. In addition, local sources also mentioned that Tesla could be repurposing older lithium-ion batteries for other purposes, including their inclusion in stationary battery storage systems like Powerwall or Megapack.
Of course, the facility also has major benefits for the local community, including creating around 100 local jobs, as well as injecting approximately $56 million into the local economy. Further, developing the contaminated land as a renewable facility is one of the safest ways to use the land that’s been sealed off from the public for nearly a decade.
Elon’s Image
The proposal isn’t without its critics. Local opposition was voiced during community consultations, with most of the negative sentiment directed towards Elon rather than the facility itself. Despite these complaints, the local council elected to proceed, arguing that tangible economic and environmental benefits far outweigh any perceived geopolitical or symbolic harm that shutting down the project could cause.
With the council’s endorsement on record, the proposal now moves to the South Australian state government for approvals regarding the change in land classification.
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