YouTuber converts Tesla Model S into peculiar hybrid car and drives 1,800 miles without plugging it in for charging ↺
The so-called ‘range anxiety’ is a commonly used term to describe one of the most apparent disadvantages of modern electric cars. A popular American YouTuber was apparently also annoyed by the limited range and mandatory stops at charging stations with his Tesla Model S, which is why he decided to convert his luxurious electric sedan into a somewhat bizarre hybrid car.
For this purpose, the ingenious tinkerer and host of the successful YouTube channel "Warped Perceptions" placed a small one-cylinder gas generator with 400cc and about 13 hp in the back of his Tesla Model S, which apparently allowed him to continuously charge the battery of the electric car while driving. As a result, he claims that he didn’t need to stop at a single charging station over the course of his long road trip in the American Midwest, but unfortunately, his Tesla Model S was limited to rather slow speeds since the small generator could not provide enough energy to keep the EV’s battery charged when traveling at regular highway speeds.
To make things even worse, the customized Tesla Model S was eventually pulled over by a police offer who noticed that the electric car was driving conspicuously slowly. After the incident, the tinkerer regularly stopped the electric car on the side of the road in order to give the weak gas generator some extra time to recharge the large EV battery. This means that the “cordless” Tesla Model S still required several charging stops on the 1,800 mile long road trip, although it was never plugged into a regular charging station or Supercharger.
According to his own calculations, the fuel economy of his gas-generator-powered Tesla Model S amounted to quite inefficient 19 miles per gallon at 60 mph, while traveling at 50 mph was way more efficient and resulted in a more reasonable consumption of 24 mpg. In the end, the creative tinkerer described his converted electric sedan as useless, and he was particularly dissatisfied with the power and efficiency of his custom hybrid system. Nevertheless, if you want to take a closer look at this intriguing project involving the Tesla Model S, we highly recommend watching the corresponding YouTube video, which is also embedded below.
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