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I’m a big fan of Rich Benoit of Rich Rebuilds (YouTube) and Electrified Garage (his business with a mechanic friend), and it’s not just because he’s a “rebel mechanic” of sorts, always taking on unconventional challenges. Honestly, it’s because to me he represents the wave of DIY EV enthusiasm that will eventually take electric-powered personal transportation from its semi-elite status to an everyday-person commonality.
Backyard or home garage projects with various cars, classic or otherwise, has created an industry all its own with a hobby base that fuels it. While NASCAR-level performance is often out of reach financially (and practicality-wise), car enthusiasts are still inspired to invest in performance upgrades to their vehicles on a regular basis, and there’s even an entire community that spends a lot of time and money on classic car restorations. (I know I’m just rehashing the obvious here, but it’s relevant.)
These things are, of course, already starting to pop up with an electric spin via various EV conversions of other cars. EV West is one of the better known shops that pretty much does this exclusively, but it’s still a bit of an overly expensive undertaking that requires very specialized know-how. I watch videos featuring their work with about the same level of gawk as I do racing events featuring Tesla performance packages I will probably never be able to afford (or need). This is where guys like Rich come in that appeal to a very different, if more modest, crowd.
Rich’s channel is dedicated to showing you, the everyday DIYer, how EVs don’t have to remain something that only certified super mechanics and specialized shops can touch. This is particularly relevant to Tesla owners, in my opinion, and not just because Rich focuses on making Tesla mad by restoring their totaled vehicles. Sure, the company is making strides to have great service that can even come to wherever your car is, if needed. The long-long term reality though, I think, is that people will get to the point where they want to be able to have more control over the cost to maintain their cars as they age. I mean, if batteries are supposed to last a million miles soon, that means a Tesla might change ownership some five+ times before it needs a new power source. Even then, the owner might replace it with another used battery and sell it again and again, etc.
I’m not sure what Tesla’s corporate plans are for this particular kind of future, just that their leasing plans for the Tesla Network would avoid it entirely. There’s going to be a big used EV market eventually, though, and something that might really impact its viability to customers is whether or not they can work on their own vehicles. I know I worry about it vicariously, if that even makes sense.
I’ve had a mix of used and new cars over the years, but something that always worried me was having things break that I couldn’t just order online for a good price and have my local mechanic replace. Or my husband. I owned an older Mercedes very briefly once, and the first thing to go was its fancy single windshield wiper during the first storm of the year. That was a $700 fix that only a mechanic could touch! My Honda’s wipers, on the other hand, required a $70 part that had an online video to guide me through the replacement procedure.
I think these kinds of things will really matter in the long term for the average car shopper, and it takes DIYers digging into the EVs on the market to bring about that sort of availability and consumer choice. Mercedes, to reference my example again, is supposed to be a luxury vehicle that’s expensive to maintain. Tesla is trying to appeal to all consumers, as I’ve mentioned a few (dozen) times.
Here’s another angle to think about. The environmental point of all this EV stuff should be a big factor in the used market as well. Consumer trade-ins and trade-ups are pretty common, and a leasing-focused future encourages this. But if the carbon footprint of making a new vehicle is compared with that of restoring or maintaining an older one, I assume keeping older cars in good condition would be the environmental preference, no? Anyhow, I’m glad guys like Rich are around, pointing to one of the directions the industry needs to go.
Back in 2019, YouTuber Simone Giertz, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Sh*tty Robots,” created a one-off Tesla Model 3 build that took the automotive world by storm. Fondly dubbed as “Truckla,” Giertz noted that the vehicle was actually her dream car — as crazy as that may sound.
Now almost four years later, the YouTuber posted an update on Truckla. And just like every other big project that one probably started, Giertz stated that she actually stopped working on Truckla when the vehicle was about 80% complete. The car is driving though, but a lot of stuff was not really working very well.
Thus, for her Truckla update, Giertz shared how most of her Model 3 pickup truck conversion was essentially completed. Truckla got a lot of detailing done, she got a slight lift, and she now has a functional tailgate. One has to admit, Truckla’s tailgate is pretty darn cool.
The “Queen of Sh*tty Robots” also opted to give Truckla a friend in the form of an automatic robot charger. Unlike Tesla’s rather interesting snake charger from years past, Truckla’s charger would come in the form of a rover, thanks to her friends at robotics platform Viam. Giertz aptly named Truckla’s robot charger friend “Chargela,” which is an appropriate name for such an invention.
Also true to form for Giertz, Chargela’s first encounter with Truckla was just a tiny bit awkward. One could say that Chargela may have just been a little bit nervous on his first try without human hands helping him. Most importantly, the system did work, so Giertz would likely keep using Chargela for her Model 3 pickup.
Teslas are very tech-heavy vehicles, so projects like Giertz’s Truckla are always remarkable. The fact that the Model 3 works perfectly fine despite having a good chunk of it cut off and turned into a pickup truck bed is mighty impressive any way one looks at it. Overall, Truckla will always be one of the coolest Tesla DIY projects to date, so any updates about the vehicle are always appreciated.
Truckla’s nearly four-year update can be viewed below.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
A Tesla owner is taking his hobby and love for electric vehicles to new levels by creating what could only be described as one of the coolest EV-related DIY projects to date. The idea for the project is simple: what happens when you cross a supercar with the Cybertruck? You end up with a two-seater CyberRoadster.
Tesla owner David Andreyev, who goes by the username @Cyber_Hooligan_ on Twitter, has spent the last few months creating a Cybertruck-inspired version of the next-generation Roadster made from a salvaged Model 3 Performance. Starting with a Model 3 Performance is an inspired choice, considering that it is Tesla’s first vehicle that has a dedicated Track Mode.
A look at Andreyev’s YouTube channel, which can be accessed here, shows the meticulous build that the Tesla owner has implemented on the project car. What’s particularly cool about the CyberRoadster is the fact that it’s being built with parts that are also from other Tesla vehicles, like its front bumper that came from a new Model S. Recent videos suggest that the project car’s rear bumper will be from a new Model S as well.
The journey is long for Andreyev, so the completion of the CyberRoadster will likely take some more time. Despite this, seeing the Tesla owner’s DIY journey on such an epic build is more than satisfying. And considering that the CyberRoadster is evidently a labor of love from the Tesla owner, the final results would likely be extremely worth it.
There’s a lot of crazy Tesla modifications that have been done as of late. But some, as it is with a lot of things on the internet these days, have become more silly gimmicks than serious automotive projects. Fortunately, car enthusiasts like Andreyev, who just happen to also love electric vehicles, are taking it upon themselves to create one-of-a-kind EVs that would surely capture the attention of anyone on the road.
Check out the latest video in the CyberRoadster’s creation below.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
A Tesla owner has demonstrated a rather novel way to charge his Model 3. In a recent video, Sean Callaghan of the ItsYeBoi YouTube channel opted to use a series of off-the-shelf solar panel sheets onto a towable trailer to create a mobile charging unit for his all-electric sedan.
Callaghan planned to use only the sun and the solar sheets purchased from e-commerce platform Wish to charge his Model 3. The solar panel sheets would collect energy from the sun and transfer it to a control panel. The control panels were connected to batteries that would hold the energy—the batteries connected to an inverter, which would then charge the Tesla Model 3.
The entire assembly would provide the Model 3 with about 800 watts of energy on a completely sunny day. However, Callaghan shot the video when weather was overcast, so the entire solar panel trailer build only managed to provide around 300 watts throughout the YouTube host’s test.
To put this into perspective, a 100 volt home wall outlet provides 1.4 kilowatts of power, or 1,400 watts. Therefore, the 300-watt solar panel assembly built by Callaghan was producing less than 25% of the energy of a typical wall outlet. This is pretty marginal compared to Tesla’s 250-kilowatt V3 Superchargers, which provides 250,000 watts, or about 833 times as much power as the makeshift solar panel build.
However, Callaghan’s goal was not to charge the vehicle quickly. He explained the idea came from a previous video where he used a $5,000 Wish-purchased wind turbine to charge his Model 3. He wanted to test the effectiveness and efficiency of the system, which was questionable due to the time it would take to charge the battery fully.
The Model 3 battery pack is 78 kWh, and with Callaghan’s 300-watt system charging his electric vehicle, it would take 260 hours to supply the Tesla’s battery to full capacity.
In the past, electric vehicle enthusiasts have asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk why the company’s vehicles do not contain solar glass roofing, which would charge the car while the owner is driving. Musk has explained that the efficiency of this idea is challenging and likely would not provide an ample amount of range.
When asked about the idea of putting solar panels on the top of Tesla’s vehicles in 2017, Musk responded that the idea was “Not that helpful, because the actual surface of the car is not that much, and cars are often inside. The least efficient place to put solar is on the car.” It also would not be cost-effective for Tesla because “the cost of the panels and electronics, R&D and assembly would never pay for itself in the life of the vehicle, compared to charging from the wall in your garage,” Quartz noted.
That being said, Tesla plans to implement solar panels onto the motorized tonneau of the upcoming Cybertruck. The idea was discussed on Twitter when Musk stated that the optional feature would add “15 miles per day, possibly more” when parked in the sunlight. Also, fold-out solar wings could help capture enough solar energy for 30 to 40 miles a day.
Watch Sean Callaghan’s video of his makeshift solar panel trailer below.
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