YouTuber installs gasoline engine in Tesla so he can drive 1,600 miles without charging
- A YouTuber installed a gasoline powerplant on his Tesla Model S
- He did it out of frustration caused by range anxiety
- To test it out, he embarked on a 1,600-mile road trip without touching a charger
Published on Jul 05, 2024 at 8:41 PM (UTC+4)
by Andie Reeves
Last updated on Jul 19, 2024 at 7:28 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
A YouTube creator decided to modify his Tesla to cure his range anxiety.
He was tired of stopping to charge his Model S on road trips, so he installed a gasoline engine.
You know – the thing Teslas were specifically built without.
The result was incredibly loud and wildly inefficient, but aesthetically pleasing.
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Installing a gasoline engine on a Model S
![YouTuber installs gasoline engine in Tesla so he can drive 1600 miles without charging](https://supercarblondie.com/wp-content/uploads/YouTuber-installs-gasoline-engine-in-Tesla-so-he-can-drive-1600-miles-without-charging-1024x640.png)
![YouTuber installs gasoline engine in Tesla so he can drive 1600 miles without charging](https://supercarblondie.com/wp-content/uploads/YouTuber-installs-gasoline-engine-in-Tesla-so-he-can-drive-1600-miles-without-charging-1-1024x640.png)
Matt Mikka is the brains behind the YouTube channel Warped Perceptions, where he pulls off all sorts of engineering feats.
One of his pet peeves is having to wait for his Tesla Model S to recharge on road trips.
He decided to install a powerplant in his Tesla so that it can charge while driving and whenever it’s stoppped.
To put it to the test, he embarked on a 1,600-mile road trip without touching a charger.
Pity he didn’t hear about the students who created an EV that goes 1,600 miles on just one charge before this long and expensive project.
He did an incredible and impressive job of installing the single-cylinder, 400cc, overhead valve, gasoline engine, placing it at the car’s rear.
Mikka left it exposed, which gave the sensible silhouette of the Model S an edge and turned a lot of heads along the trip.
Road tripping with a gasoline Tesla
![YouTuber installs gasoline engine in Tesla so he can drive 1600 miles without charging](https://supercarblondie.com/wp-content/uploads/YouTuber-installs-gasoline-engine-in-Tesla-so-he-can-drive-1600-miles-without-charging-2-1024x640.png)
The Model S has an impressive range of 400 miles on a single charge, but Mikka wanted to push that to 1,600 miles.
A few miles into his trip he noticed his car was using an unusual amount of gas.
It turns out that over a certain speed, gasoline started spraying out of the rear of the car.
This was one of many hiccups along the way.
The car was basically using energy faster than it was making it, prompting a police officer to actually pull him over for driving too slowly.
This problem was ongoing, creating a new version of range anxiety.
![YouTuber installs gasoline engine in Tesla so he can drive 1600 miles without charging](https://supercarblondie.com/wp-content/uploads/YouTuber-installs-gasoline-engine-in-Tesla-so-he-can-drive-1600-miles-without-charging-3-1024x640.png)
Another issue was the outrageously loud engine.
At night, he left the engine running so it could charge overnight, much to the dismay of the residents of each of his stops, some of which reported him to the police.
Eventually, Mikka completed his trip but much slower than he had hoped.
What was impressive was that the engine basically ran for seven days non-stop.
Rather than admitting defeat, Mikka has plans to rip it apart and build it bigger and better.
We’d love to know what Elon Musk thinks of him turning his quiet and eco-friendly creation into a loud gas-guzzler.
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Andie Reeves
Andie is a content writer from South Africa with a background in broadcasting and journalism. Starting her career in the glossy pages of Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire, Andie has a broad portfolio, covering everything from sustainability solutions to celebrity car collections. When not at her laptop Andie can be found sewing, recording her podcast, taking board games too seriously or road-tripping in her bright green Kia.