Siraj Rawal installed free mining software on his Apple Mac mini M1 and powered the computer by connecting an inverter to a 12-volt outlet located in the center console of a Tesla Model 3. The resourceful man powers the interconnected video cards directly from the electric car’s battery.
While this may void your vehicle’s warranty, Raval says it’s worth it. When the price of Ethereum peaked in 2021, the man managed to earn $800 in a month. In the future, he plans to modify his Tesla Model 3, turning the electric car into a robotic taxi that can mine cryptocurrency in between trips.
Bitcoin miner Alejandro de la Torre told CNBC that, ultimately, mining cryptocurrencies with a Tesla is no different than tapping into any other energy source. “The main component is the price of electricity. If it’s cheaper to do it with an electric car, then so be it,” he said.
Other enthusiasts are also trying to mine bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies using electric vehicles. Thus, Chris Alessi from the American state of Wisconsin once used the built-in Tesla computer to mine the Monero cryptocurrency. He launched the corresponding application directly in the on-board system browser. However, this method, according to the man, is too unproductive, and the most profitable is the combination of hacking Tesla’s internal computer and connecting graphics processors directly to the car’s electrical system.
The profitability of cryptocurrency mining using Tesla largely depends on when the electric car was purchased. Allessi, for example, bought his car before January 2017, which means he has free and unlimited charging on the Tesla Supercharger network for the life of his car. He estimates that in a 60-hour window in 2018, he would have mined $10 worth of Bitcoin with free electricity.
But even though it was profitable, it was hardly worth it, he says. “Why would you put so much wear and tear on a $40,000 to $100,000 car? Right now, even though the price of Bitcoin has risen sharply, the level of difficulty [майнинга] also increased… In the same amount of time, with the exact same equipment, I could probably get $1 or $2 worth of bitcoins,” Allessi said, adding that he would have made more money working at McDonald’s.
At the same time, Siraj Rawal is forced to pay for electricity because his Tesla Model 3 is newer. But thanks to a special approach, he allegedly still manages to make a profit even during periods of cryptocurrency crises. He buys inexpensive used video cards, transfers his Ethereum to a crypto investment platform with an annual rate of 23%, and also does not cash out his savings, waiting for their value to further increase.