The owner of a Tesla Model 3 electric car hacked it into mining Ethereum. Another man modified his Tesla to mine Bitcoin and Monero.
While the man behind Tesla criticizes crypto mining for the damage it causes to the environment and therefore stopped accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment, two men revealed to CNBC how they modified their electric cars of that brand to mine cryptocurrencies with them.
A 2018 Tesla Model 3 owner, Siraj Raval, said he mined up to $ 800 a month in Ethereum with his hacked electric car. On the other hand, Chris Allessi, a Tesla Model S owner, connected a Bitmain Antminer S9 to his electrical system to mine Bitcoin and he even managed to mine Monero.
Manipulate Tesla to Mine
These two Tesla owners highlighted how they modified their cars to mine digital currencies. Siraj Raval plugged his graphics processing units (GPUs) into his 2018 Tesla Model 3 to mine crypto assets with his car. Raval also clarified that it is worth it and claims to have raised at least $ 800 a month in Ethereum when the coin prices were at their highest peak last year.
Wisconsin electric car dealer Chris Allessi started doing the same procedure back in 2018. Allessi now leads a YouTube channel called K-Man Auto, which focuses its efforts on custom electronic vehicles. He says he likes electricity and zap and building things.
Allessi claims that he took advantage of a power inverter and a Bitmain Antminer S9 and tied them directly to his Tesla Model S battery to mine Bitcoin (BTC). Allessi also reports about the capabilities of Tesla and its built-in internal firmware to mine crypto assets such as Monero (XMR).
On the other hand, Raval has also hacked into its internal Tesla Model 3 built-in firmware to mine crypto, noting that the process, along with the use of GPUs, was the most profitable way. Allessi and Raval are not the only ones who have tried to mine digital assets with an electric vehicle.
Last June, Canadian-based electric vehicle company Daymak revealed intentions to launch an electric car called Spiritus with features designed for crypto mining. Alejandro de la Torre, a Bitcoin miner, went to CNBC and explained that mining crypto from a Tesla is like getting connected to any other power source. De la Torre said the main challenge is the price of electricity. If it comes to be cheaper to do it through an electric car, so be it.
With a BMW
Mining cryptocurrency with cars is not new information. In January 2021, PC Gamer revealed that Simon Byrne’s BMW i8 could mine Ethereum with the electric battery system. Byrne’s car installed at least six Nvidia RTX 3080 GPUs in the suitcase to mine the crypto asset. According to Byrne, he modified his hybrid-electric BMW i8 with crypto miners just to bother gamers.
By: Jenson Nuñez
