Inventor hacks up a perfectly good Tesla Model 3 and turns it into a pickup
Simone Giertz, the queen of shitty robots, modified her Tesla into a not-at-all-shitty pickup truck that she has dubbed "Truckla."
The YouTuber and inventor is known for creating useless robots that automatically smack people awake or chaotically try to apply lipstick. Her latest build, though, was a massive undertaking.
Because she's constantly hauling lumber, steel, and other raw materials for various inventions, Giertz needed a vehicle with ample trunk space. Her previous car, a bright yellow electric Comuta from the '80s, couldn't do it. But Giertz didn't want a traditional pickup truck due to environmental concerns.
"My goal is to never own a gas car," Giertz said in a press release about the project. "I'm part of a new generation that will only drive electric. I feel like I should pad this a bit, but I'm not going to. Fuck oil companies. Seriously, fuck them."
So Giertz bought a new Tesla Model 3 and after nearly a year of planning, she worked with mechanic Marcos Ramirez, designer Laura Kampf, and Tesla rebuild specialist Richard Benoit to create her dream truck.
First, they started out by removing the back passenger seats to make room for a truck bed.
Once the team finished hacking away the back half of the car — a feat in itself — they began work on turning it into a functional truck.
"I think it's so beautiful," Giertz gushed, looking at the sawed shell of the Tesla.
She hoped people wouldn't think she was doing it for the sensational clickbait of destroying a car.
“I really hope that people don’t just think of this as an obnoxious YouTuber cutting up a brand new car,” Giertz noted in the release. “This process has destructive steps but the end goal is constructive. And I’m doing it because I really, really want this car. This is truly my dream car.”
Although the car is fully drivable, there's still work that needs to be done, including adding a lift kit for the comically low-riding truck. Giertz also wants to add a new bed liner and refresh it all with a new paint job.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is working on a "cyberpunk"-looking truck during E3 last week, hinting at an end-of-summer release.
But experts have criticized the potential truck as unrealistic. Brett Smith, director of propulsion technologies and energy infrastructure at the Center for Automative Research, told CNBC that "the physics don't work there."
He added that the electric battery needed to power such a large vehicle capable of long distances would run well over Tesla's $50,000 estimated price tag.
But in the meantime, Giertz has a pretty badass Tesla pickup truck — the first of its kind. They even made a fake trailer for the tiny pickup.
It's worth noting that Giertz, who was born in Sweden, only got her American driver's license a year and a half ago.
"Giertz hopes this project will help bridge the gap between pickup trucks and electric vehicles" the press release concludes. "She is also very proud to report that she was able to get her first parking ticket within one day of owning the vehicle."
