‘Pointless but incredible’ — New electric car mines crypto while it’s parked

Published at: June 2, 2021

Canadian light electric vehicle manufacturer Daymak has announced an upcoming electric car that can mine Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) — when it’s charging or parked.

According to the manufacturer’s Tuesday announcement, the “Spiritus” electric car is set to roll out in 2023, and will come fitted with “an industry-leading GPU in mining price-to-profit.” However, details are sparse on what the specific capabilities of the mining hardware are.

“Daymak Spiritus the first car in history with mining hardware and cryptocurrency technology programmed into the user interface,” the announcement stated.

Every Spiritus will be an “environmentally-friendly crypto miner node,” that includes the Daymak Nebula mining hardware, the Nebula crypto wallet, and solar charging capabilities. Daymak has touted that, unlike other vehicles, the Spiritus will not be a depreciating asset:

“Whereas most vehicles are depreciating while they sit in your garage, the Nebula Miner will make you money while your Spiritus is parked.”

Despite the technological feat, it may work out to be uneconomical (or at least not particularly profitable) to mine various cryptocurrencies in the sort of small-scale consumer rig that is likely to be fitted in a car.

The “Documenting Bitcoin” Twitter account found the funny side of applying renewable energy-backed crypto mining to a car, telling their 436,800 followers that this is “pointless, but incredible.”

The Canadian auto manufacturer Daymak, just announced their new series of electric cars will mine #Bitcoin with solar energy when charging, and they're accepting #Bitcoin as payment.This is pointless, but incredible at the same time. pic.twitter.com/mRkYvNtjx5

— Documenting Bitcoin (@DocumentingBTC) June 1, 2021

The firm has also touted that the Nebula Wallet app will offer staking features for drivers, and supports “Bitcoin, Ethereum, DOGE, Cardano and more.”

Daymak is now taking pre-orders for the car and accepts crypto payments in DOGE, Ether, Cardano (ADA) and Bitcoin, and is also “working with a variety of exchanges to offer leasing payments via crypto.”

The Spiritus comes in a “deluxe” model priced at $19,995 and an “ultimate” model priced at $149,000. It appears that the models differ only in driving performance such as top speed and battery life, and added features such as wireless charging and custom paint — but not mining hardware capabilities.

This is not the first time a car has been rigged out with crypto mining hardware. Back in January, crypto-enthusiast Simon Bryne installed a portable mining rig into his BMW i8 hybrid vehicle. At the time, Bryne’s car was estimated to be able to generate $122,000 in profit per year.

“We envision a future where your highway tolls, your parking and your drive-thru order will be paid directly on the fly with crypto. Your online bills and your banking can be handled through the same software platform paid in crypto,” stated president of Daymak Aldo Baiocchi.

Tags
Business
Sustainability
Mining
Bitcoin Mining
Environment
Related Posts
Flower powered: Bitcoin miner heats greenhouses in the Netherlands
Bitcoin (BTC) mining generates a lot of “waste” heat. As energy prices spiral out of control in Europe, miners have come up with creative ways of recycling the heat generated by solving valid Bitcoin blocks. Whereas in Norway, a miner is drying wood from the local timber mill, across the North Sea in the Netherlands, a miner is heating greenhouses to grow produce and bloom “Bitcoin flowers.” In a win-win partnership between a Dutch farmer and a Bitcoin miner, Bitcoin Bloem mines Bitcoin and bud flowers in greenhouses in the province of North Braband, southeast of Rotterdam. It works like …
Adoption / Feb. 17, 2022
The Bitcoin shitcoin machine: Mining BTC with biogas
Next time someone tries to poo-poo the renewable credentials of Bitcoin (BTC) mining, remember AmityAge Mining Farm. Founded by Gabriel Kozak and Dušan Matuska, the Bitcoin mining facility uses human and animal waste to generate electricity for mining. Matuska, the man “who met Satoshi Nakomoto”, told Cointelegraph that “methane from biodegradation processes runs our machines.” As human and animal waste isn’t running out any time soon, their BTC mining process is both environmentally friendly and renewable. According to Matuska, using renewable energies such as biogas “shows that we can really accelerate the adoption of these renewables and make their return …
Adoption / March 29, 2022
Winklevoss’ Gemini buys carbon credits to cut Bitcoin’s CO2 footprint
Gemini, a major cryptocurrency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is responding to Bitcoin’s (BTC) environmental issue by purchasing carbon credits. On Thursday, the company announced its long-term initiative to incorporate climate-conscious measures into its business, launching a collaboration with Climate Vault, a nonprofit founded at the University of Chicago. Through the initiative, Gemini plans to purchase carbon credits for nearly 350,000 metric tons of carbon to offset non-renewable energy consumed by Bitcoin miners and help decarbonize Bitcoin on the Bitcoin network. According to the announcement, the partnership will have Gemini purchase carbon permits directly from government-related cap-and-trade markets …
Bitcoin / June 24, 2021
The use of blockchain tech should be more environmentally friendly
It is no longer news that the United States has restated its commitment toward lowering carbon emissions and taking an active part in the quest to normalize environmentally friendly measures on the global scene. This drastic shift in policymaking will spur the introduction and establishment of more stringent approaches to climate change. Undoubtedly, the reentering of the United States in the climate change conversation is indicative of the seriousness of this crisis and the drastic decisions countries would likely make to meet the environmental goals set in Paris, known as the Paris Agreement. At the heart of this political and …
Technology / March 13, 2021
The Sioux Energy Center has mined 20 Bitcoin in secret since April
Electric services provider Ameren Corporation announced Monday that it has successfully mined upward of 20 Bitcoin (BTC) using excess energy generated by one of its coal-based power plants — the Sioux Energy Center in West Alton, Missouri. While the company set up the data center used to mine the coins back in April, it did not publicly announce the addition until Monday. Its half-megawatt mining facility taps into the Sioux Energy Energy Center’s 972 MW generation capacity to complete the necessary proof-of-work-based mining activities. Ameren’s goals in launching the operation appear to have been to stop a decline in the …
Blockchain / Oct. 25, 2021