YouTuber Installs A Gas Generator In His Tesla So He Won't Have To Plug It In While On A Road Trip

For a long road trip, a YouTuber decided to extend the range of his electric car by placing a gas generator in the back of his Tesla.

Matt Mikka, who goes by the YouTube handle Warped Perception, decided last year to alter his Tesla and install a gas generator that could charge the car while it was in motion.

He then chose to drive his Tesla Model S 1,800 miles with the self-imposed restriction of not stopping at any electric car charging stations along the way.

While Matt liked his Tesla, he didn’t appreciate having to stop and charge it on a regular basis because electric cars require significantly longer wait periods than gas-guzzling cars, which you can just fill up and go back on the road.

The Tesla Model S is one of the longest-range electric vehicles available, with a range of around 405 miles on a single charge, but it was never going to make it all the way on Mike’s road trip without stopping for a recharge.

Mike told Insider that he’d spent five years preparing the trip, with a year and a half of that time spent engineering the gas generator to fit inside his Tesla and charge the batteries.

He worked out how to charge his ‘cordless Tesla’ even when it was parked, so the battery would collect electricity while driving and at other times.

In the end, he made it all the way with his Tesla, traveling 1,395 miles beyond the car’s recommended range to reach his destination.

Of course, not stopping to recharge the car was one thing, but Matt did need to replenish his generator along the way.

He also had to stop his automobile for five to six hours per day to allow the gas generator to charge the battery.

Matt was also pulled over by authorities at one point for driving too slowly on the highway while attempting to reduce the Tesla’s energy use.

There are a few issues with this concept, most notably that he has essentially built a hybrid car when hybrid cars already exist, thus while it may have a longer range, it still consumes gas.

Furthermore, the gas generator is quite noisy, which is an annoyance during a drive, and it is thirsty enough that any environmental benefit gained from driving an electric car is negated.

In the end, Matt conceded that the modified automobile was ‘essentially useless’ because it still required a lot of time sitting about waiting for the gas generator to charge it.

The YouTuber said that he has gone back to the drawing board in the hopes of coming up with a superior design that will provide him with “the ultimate road trip car.”

YouTuber Installs A Gas Generator In His Tesla So He Won’t Have To Plug It In While On A Road Trip

For a long road trip, a YouTuber decided to extend the range of his electric car by placing a gas generator in the back of his Tesla.

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