Tesla with a 1,395 mile range

[Richard Cranium]

YouTuber puts gas generator in Tesla so he doesn’t have to plug it in on road trip​

Published 15:42, 08 June 2023

A YouTuber decided to extend the range on his electric car by installing a gas generator in the back of his Tesla for a lengthy road trip.

Matt Mikka, who goes by the name Warped Perception on YouTube, last year decided to modify his Tesla and add in a gas generator which could charge up the car while on the move.

He then decided to take his Tesla Model S on an 1,800 mile journey with the self-imposed challenge that he wasn't allowed to stop off at any electric car charging points along the way.

While Matt liked his Tesla he didn't enjoy having to stop and charge it up on a regular basis since electric need much longer waiting times than a gas-guzzling car where you just fill 'em up and get going again.

YouTuber Matt Mikka added a gas generator to his Tesla to see if he could take it on a road trip. Credit: YouTube/Warped Perception
The Tesla Model S is one of the longest range electric cars out there and can make it about 405 miles on a single charge, so as far as range is concerned it was never going to make it all the way on Mike's road trip without stopping for a recharge.

Mike told Insider he'd spent five years planning the journey, with a year and a half of that occupied by designing the gas generator so it'd fit into his Tesla and charge the batteries.

He figured out how to have his 'cordless Tesla' be charging even while parked up, so the battery would be getting juice while on the move and at other times as well.
In the end he made it all the way with his Tesla, making it 1,395 miles further than the car's recommended range to reach his finish line.

Getting the gas generator into the car took a lot of effort and ultimately this experiment probably won't go down as a success. Credit: YouTube/Warped Perception
Of course not stopping to recharge the car was one thing but Matt did have to stop at a gas station along the way to refuel his generator.

He also had to stop his car for around five to six hours a day so the gas generator could charge the battery.

Matt also ran into trouble with the police at one point as he was pulled over for driving too slowly on the highway while trying to cut down on the Tesla's energy consumption.

There are a few problems with this idea, notably that he's essentially invented a hybrid car when those already exist so while it might have greater range it still guzzles gas.
On top of that the gas generator is pretty noisy which makes for an annoying factor during a trip, and it's thirsty enough that any environmental benefit accrued from driving an electric car was wiped out.

In the end, Matt admitted the modified car was 'basically useless' as it still needed plenty of time sitting around waiting to be charged up by the gas generator.
The YouTuber confirmed that he's gone back to the drawing board in the hopes of figuring out a better design which will give him 'the ultimate road trip car'.
Sometimes you've got to fail to succeed.

 

[AR67GTX]

I can’t think of anything positive to say about that experiment. I can’t imagine the joy of spending 1400 miles in the driver seat of a car with my gas powered generator roaring away in the trunk.

 

[Ronnman]

Isn’t this like re-inventing the wheel? Wasn’t this called a hybrid that was produced and on the road some 10-15 years ago? DUMB DUMB DUMB

 

[Nxcoupe]

Agreed. I hear people joke all the time about doing this, but the issue you have to work around is that the vehicle cannot move when a charging cord is plugged in to charge the vehicle.

 

[Don Frelier]

Agreed. I hear people joke all the time about doing this, but the issue you have to work around is that the vehicle cannot move when a charging cord is plugged in to charge the vehicle.

I would have built a trailer with a tank and engine before cutting up a Tesla.

That's if I had any interest in this stupid notion to begin with.

 

[chargervert]

Totally defeats the purpose of an EV,but atleast he doesn't have to have a fake recording of a gas engine running like the new goofy looking Charger EV!

 

[Photon440]

The title is wrong, the article says he did a trip of 1800 miles.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

The title is wrong, the article says he did a trip of 1800 miles.

He did do a trip of 1800 miles.... Which is 1395 miles greater than the range of his Tesla,,,,

 

[Photon440]

He did do a trip of 1800 miles.... Which is 1395 miles greater than the range of his Tesla,,,,

Exactly, so the title should have said 1800 miles. Or perhaps, add the words 'range extension' to the 1395. Besides, having to stop for refueling sort of means that the range was actually less. The article didn't say how far he went before needing gas.

 

[Budnicks]

sorry RC
but;
who cares, it's an EV

 

[furious70]

I mean, you guys realize it was a click bait stunt, right?

 

[Detective D]

Guess he will have to try again to invent some thing that already exists so he can keep saying he owns a Tesla.
And remember, "longer waiting times than a gas-guzzling car" because every car that is not an EV "guzzles" gasoline.

But at least we can save the planet! MUH CO2!
Nevermind stuff like this going on:

 

[Richard Cranium]

Guess he will have to try again to invent some thing that already exists so he can keep saying he owns a Tesla.
And remember, "longer waiting times than a gas-guzzling car" because every car that is not an EV "guzzles" gasoline.

But at least we can save the planet! MUH CO2!
Nevermind stuff like this going on:
View attachment 1477247

Where is that?

 

[kiwigtx]

Where is that?

Springfield........near Homer Simpson's house.

 

[Detective D]

Where is that?

Kuwait. Not the first. In fact, the picture is of one from 2 years ago. Close friend told me about current fire, looked it up yesterday in the morning, by the time I got home from work I couldn't find anything about it anywhere, but what's new.
I get a chuckle whenever I think of the "tire disposal fee" from every town dump, garage, tire store. Must just be to cover the shipping eh?

 

[Photon440]

They do seem to store an inordinate quantity of expired tires over there.

 

[Ronnman]

Photon440 - I did not intentionally hit the Red X to “Disagree”. Must have been my fat fingers.

I generally catch this before I exit the threads.

Thanks for questioning this.
Ron

 

[Richard Cranium]

Photon440 - I did not intentionally hit the Red X to “Disagree”. Must have been my fat fingers.

I generally catch this before I exit the threads.

Thanks for questioning this.
Ron

 

[Ronnman]

 

[Cranky]

Guess he will have to try again to invent some thing that already exists so he can keep saying he owns a Tesla.
And remember, "longer waiting times than a gas-guzzling car" because every car that is not an EV "guzzles" gasoline.

But at least we can save the planet! MUH CO2!
Nevermind stuff like this going on:
View attachment 1477247

I thought tire smoke was a really lite color.....