How guy managed to create a Tesla that can drive 1,600 miles without charging
- This YouTuber has a fix for range anxiety
- He went on a 1.6k-mile road trip without a charger in his Tesla Model S
- He installed a gasoline powerplant to make it happen
Published on Aug 21, 2024 at 3:46 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Aug 21, 2024 at 6:55 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
If you need to ease your EV range anxiety, this US-based YouTuber has the answer in his Tesla Model S.
It allowed him to head on a 1,600-mile road trip without a charger.
He’s certainly confident – here’s how he did it.
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1,600-mile range

After range-related frustration caused anxiety, Matt Mikka the brains behind the YouTube channel Warped Perceptions, where he pulls off all sorts of engineering feats.
He was tired of stopping and waiting for his his Model S to charge on road trips.
So he decided to make a change allowing him to embark on a 1,600-mile road trip without charging.
In fact – he didn’t even pack one.

The Model S has a not-to-sniffed-at range of 400 miles on a single charge.
However, Mikka wanted to push that to 1,600 miles.
Seems he hadn’t hear about the students who created an EV that can drive 1,600 miles on a single charge.
How he pushed his Tesla to the max

His solution is to add the one thing that Tesla cars were designed without – a gasoline powerplant.
The result was loud and inefficient – but it looked pretty good.
He installed a single-cylinder, 400cc, overhead valve, gasoline engine at the rear.
Leaving it exposed gave a raw edge to the usually sleek silhouette of the Tesla Model S
However, it wasn’t a smooth trip.

A few miles down the road, Mikka clocked that his modded car was using a lot of gas.
Upon investigation, he found that, upon hitting a certain speed, gasoline spurted from the rear of the car.
Turns out that it was using energy faster than it could make it.
He was pulled over by a police officer for driving too slowly.
The excessive noise from the engine was a second issue.
He was forced to leave the engine running to charge it overnight during stops – meaning locals got the police involved again.
In fact, the engine ran non-stop for seven days.
Noise pollution is an issue too with this $250,000 supercar seized by police in London because of excessive revving.
Mikka’s solution?
Pull it apart and rebuild it better to iron out any kinks.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”